Plato Investment Management Ltd Grows Position in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 156.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,506 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,139 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 620.0% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 72 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 650.0% during the 3rd quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 75 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 65.2% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In related news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 10,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.95, for a total value of $3,603,807.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,834,176.25. The trade was a 20.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 3,819 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,767 shares in the company, valued at $15,825,134.50. This trade represents a 7.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 51,260 shares of company stock worth $18,133,971 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on GD. DA Davidson reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $398.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $388.20.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD opened at $346.48 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $93.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12-month low of $267.39 and a 12-month high of $369.70. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $345.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $346.69.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.66 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a $1.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. 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.