General Dynamics Corporation $GD Shares Acquired by World Investment Advisors

World Investment Advisors increased its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,413 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,526 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in General Dynamics were worth $7,882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GD. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $567,372,000 after acquiring an additional 901,679 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew 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 valued at $1,136,525,000 after buying an additional 863,392 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in General Dynamics by 2.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,238,561 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,265,349,000 after buying an additional 677,665 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $251,405,000 after acquiring an additional 658,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total transaction of $11,655,934.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 766,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $271,394,759.13. This represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Mark Rayha sold 4,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.79, for a total value of $1,524,212.30. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 7,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,767,997.44. This represents a 35.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 51,260 shares of company stock worth $18,133,971. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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 report on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson cut their price target on General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $420.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.20.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $346.39 on Wednesday. General Dynamics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $267.39 and a fifty-two week high of $369.70. The firm has a market cap of $93.67 billion, a PE ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s fifty day moving average is $345.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $346.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.