Plato Investment Management Ltd Makes New Investment in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,647 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,341,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,338,169,000 after buying an additional 528,769 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in General Dynamics by 155.6% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 104,773 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $35,273,000 after acquiring an additional 63,781 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $7,914,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 939,264 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $316,213,000 after buying an additional 102,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rayburn West Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $2,387,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 51,568 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $382.58, for a total value of $19,728,885.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $293,231,119.06. This trade represents a 6.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 43,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $378.04, for a total value of $16,323,767.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,767 shares in the company, valued at $16,923,716.68. This represents a 49.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 100,228 shares of company stock worth $38,052,853 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $390.67 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $371.16 and its 200 day moving average is $354.81. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $306.77 and a one year high of $400.00. The firm has a market cap of $105.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $14.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.52 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.74 EPS. General Dynamics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.800-16.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.97 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GD. Susquehanna upped their target price on General Dynamics from $420.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $410.89.

General Dynamics Profile

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.