General Dynamics Corporation $GD Shares Purchased by World Investment Advisors

World Investment Advisors boosted its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,413 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,526 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in General Dynamics were worth $7,882,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 118.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,847 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $567,372,000 after acquiring an additional 901,679 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 35.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,136,525,000 after acquiring an additional 863,392 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,238,561 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,265,349,000 after acquiring an additional 677,665 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 831.1% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 737,259 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $251,405,000 after acquiring an additional 658,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 6,680.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 591,488 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $199,130,000 after acquiring an additional 582,765 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Argus raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Citigroup cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $389.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $388.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Mark Rayha sold 4,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.79, for a total transaction of $1,524,212.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 7,936 shares in the company, valued at $2,767,997.44. This trade represents a 35.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 3,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 44,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,825,134.50. This represents a 7.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 51,260 shares of company stock valued at $18,133,971 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:GD opened at $346.39 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $345.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $346.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.90. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12 month low of $267.39 and a 12 month high of $369.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.67 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS 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 company had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 40.03%.

About General Dynamics

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.