Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Grows Stake in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 183.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 55,459 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,862 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $18,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GD. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 140.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 2,011 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $240,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $352,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,284,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $420.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $371.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on General Dynamics in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $388.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 3,819 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.50, for a total transaction of $1,350,016.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Rayha sold 4,370 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.79, for a total value of $1,524,212.30. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 7,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,767,997.44. The trade was a 35.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 51,260 shares of company stock worth $18,133,971 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.8%

GD opened at $343.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $93.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $345.38 and a 200-day moving average of $346.78. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52 week low of $267.39 and a 52 week high of $369.70.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.66 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.