Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Acquires 2,290 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,673 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,290 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $19,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 2.2% during 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. State Street Corp raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,323,170 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,812,058,000 after buying an additional 294,456 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,065,462 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,039,742,000 after buying an additional 195,604 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,307,389 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,786,786,000 after buying an additional 114,647 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 5.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,627,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,236,900,000 after buying an additional 187,435 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on GD. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered General Dynamics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.40.

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.7%

General Dynamics stock opened at $344.31 on Thursday. 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 1-year low of $281.13 and a 1-year high of $369.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $341.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $347.46. The company has a market cap of $93.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.66 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued 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 Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,000,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,643 shares in the company, valued at $3,884,695. This trade represents a 33.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,190 shares of company stock valued at $27,041,022. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.