General Dynamics Corporation $GD Stake Boosted by Nwam LLC

Nwam LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 89.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,891 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,364 shares during the period. Nwam LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $992,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1,725.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Steph & Co. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 65.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. This trade represents a 48.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,643 shares in the company, valued at $3,884,695. This represents a 33.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 78,190 shares of company stock valued at $27,041,022. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on GD. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group raised General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised General Dynamics from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, five have given 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 an average target price of $391.15.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $368.86 on Friday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1 year low of $293.95 and a 1 year high of $380.71. The firm has a market cap of $99.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $352.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $350.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.38.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced 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 business had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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

General Dynamics 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.