General Dynamics Corporation $GD Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 534,933 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,187 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $183,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 118.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,847 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $567,372,000 after purchasing an additional 901,679 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in General Dynamics by 35.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,136,525,000 after buying an additional 863,392 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 2.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,238,561 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,265,349,000 after buying an additional 677,665 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 831.1% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 737,259 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $251,405,000 after buying an additional 658,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 6,680.8% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 591,488 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $199,130,000 after buying an additional 582,765 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on GD. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $389.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Argus increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 10,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.95, for a total value of $3,603,807.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at $13,834,176.25. The trade was a 20.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 3,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.50, for a total value of $1,350,016.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,767 shares in the company, valued at $15,825,134.50. This represents a 7.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,260 shares of company stock worth $18,133,971. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD opened at $347.54 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $345.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $346.57. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12-month low of $267.39 and a 12-month high of $369.70. The firm has a market cap of $93.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The company had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.56 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.59 per share. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.03%.

General Dynamics Company 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.