Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY Purchases 8,073 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 31.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,644 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,073 shares during the period. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $9,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GD. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 34,578.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,244,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $339,253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241,011 shares in the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $279,582,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $197,238,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,265,813,000 after acquiring an additional 706,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,774,381,000 after acquiring an additional 463,497 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $278.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $275.58 and its 200 day moving average is $266.51. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1 year low of $239.20 and a 1 year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 17.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.88 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.61%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total transaction of $50,629,589.73. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 769,607 shares in the company, valued at $217,898,829.91. This trade represents a 18.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Argus set a $295.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.00.

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, charter, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.