General Dynamics Corporation $GD Holdings Raised by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 425,169 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,697 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $143,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GD. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its stake in General Dynamics by 453.3% in the 3rd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 9,418 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,212,000 after buying an additional 7,716 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 114.7% in the 3rd quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,124 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,088,000 after buying an additional 3,271 shares during the last quarter. Jain Global LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 97.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jain Global LLC now owns 169,305 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $57,733,000 after buying an additional 83,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in General Dynamics by 155.6% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 104,773 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $35,273,000 after buying an additional 63,781 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE GD opened at $364.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $340.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $346.95. General Dynamics Corporation has a twelve month low of $275.49 and a twelve month high of $369.70. The stock has a market cap of $98.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.94, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results 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 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 last year, the company earned $3.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 40.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of General Dynamics 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. The trade was a 48.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Argus raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $388.40.

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.