National Pension Service Raises Holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 11.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 560,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 56,370 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $152,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GD. Rialto Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 213.8% in the 1st quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Copia Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 43,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.28, for a total value of $13,696,600.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,875 shares in the company, valued at $12,452,165. This represents a 52.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 33,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.20, for a total value of $10,634,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,244,518.40. This trade represents a 42.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 302,110 shares of company stock valued at $89,042,859. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $309.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $314.00 price objective on General Dynamics and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $284.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Argus set a $295.00 target price on General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $315.78.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $317.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $85.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $297.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $276.45. General Dynamics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $239.20 and a fifty-two week high of $322.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.27. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 8.13%. The business had revenue of $13.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 40.27%.

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, charter, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.