Nicholas Wealth LLC. Makes New $1.08 Million Investment in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Nicholas Wealth LLC. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,145 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,079,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 118.3% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,847 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $567,372,000 after purchasing an additional 901,679 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,136,525,000 after buying an additional 863,392 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 658,081 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 582,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,338,169,000 after buying an additional 528,769 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $385.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered General Dynamics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.40.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $346.30 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $341.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $347.50. 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 firm has a market cap of $93.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12 month low of $288.62 and a 12 month high of $369.70.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was 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 directly owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were 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 owned 10,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,884,695. This represents a 33.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 78,190 shares of company stock valued at $27,041,022 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.