Capital International Investors Raises Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 574,252 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Capital International Investors owned approximately 0.21% of General Dynamics worth $162,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth $728,284,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 10,763.2% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 923,593 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $239,829,000 after acquiring an additional 915,091 shares during the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the 1st quarter worth $179,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in General Dynamics by 3,645.4% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 558,586 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $145,048,000 after acquiring an additional 543,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth $43,733,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Susquehanna increased their price target on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $311.33.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD stock traded down $0.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $290.40. The stock had a trading volume of 1,079,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,187,075. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.87. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $214.53 and a twelve month high of $302.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $292.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $282.16.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.30 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 7.89%. The firm had revenue of $11.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.70 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $3,978,647.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 79,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,630,670.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total transaction of $3,978,647.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 79,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,630,670.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,636 shares of company stock valued at $20,209,317 in the last ninety days. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Profile

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.