National Pension Service Boosts Stock Position in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

National Pension Service lifted its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 25.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 739,373 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 150,186 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $248,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 620.0% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 72 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the third quarter worth $25,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 650.0% during the third quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 75 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 65.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on GD. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $385.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $387.40.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:GD opened at $346.47 on Friday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $268.10 and a 1-year high of $369.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $340.85 and a 200 day moving average of $346.56. The firm has a market cap of $93.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.34. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The company had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 40.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 3,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.50, for a total value of $1,350,016.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,825,134.50. The trade was a 7.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total transaction of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 119,600 shares of company stock valued at $41,650,580 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.