QRG Capital Management Inc. Purchases 38,655 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 302.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,444 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,655 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $17,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 140.2% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 2,011 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the second quarter worth about $240,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the second quarter worth about $352,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the second quarter worth about $1,284,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total transaction of $11,655,934.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 766,457 shares in the company, valued at $271,394,759.13. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Mark Rayha sold 4,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.79, for a total value of $1,524,212.30. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 7,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,767,997.44. This trade represents a 35.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 51,260 shares of company stock worth $18,133,971 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.70.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.9%

GD opened at $348.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $94.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12 month low of $267.39 and a 12 month high of $369.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $345.59 and a 200 day moving average of $346.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The firm’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.46 EPS 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 given a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.