Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 28,249 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 1.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,579,959 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 28,249 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $542,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GD. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 118.3% during 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 buying an additional 901,679 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake 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 valued at $1,136,525,000 after acquiring an additional 863,392 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 831.1% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 737,259 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $251,405,000 after acquiring an additional 658,081 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 6,680.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 591,488 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $199,130,000 after acquiring an additional 582,765 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,338,169,000 after purchasing an additional 528,769 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on GD shares. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded General Dynamics from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $385.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $391.15.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD stock opened at $370.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $353.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $350.78. The stock has a market cap of $100.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $293.95 and a one year high of $380.71. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.66 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 40.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,000,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,884,695. This trade represents a 33.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,457,677.75. The trade was a 48.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 78,190 shares of company stock valued at $27,041,022. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About General Dynamics

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.