Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Has $1.33 Million Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC cut its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 53.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,943 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 4,575 shares during the quarter. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 140.2% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $938,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at approximately $352,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,284,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Argus lifted their target price 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. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $385.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $387.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Two equities 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.70.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $347.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $93.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $267.39 and a one year high of $369.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $345.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $346.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 directly owned 766,457 shares in the company, valued at $271,394,759.13. This represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Mark Rayha sold 4,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.79, for a total transaction of $1,524,212.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 7,936 shares in the company, 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 valued at $18,133,971 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.