General Dynamics Corporation $GD Stake Lifted by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 425,169 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,697 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.16% of General Dynamics worth $143,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,338,169,000 after buying an additional 528,769 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,323,170 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,812,058,000 after buying an additional 294,456 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,065,462 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,039,742,000 after buying an additional 195,604 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,307,389 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,786,786,000 after buying an additional 114,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 5.4% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,627,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,236,900,000 after buying an additional 187,435 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of 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 company has a market cap of $98.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52 week low of $275.49 and a 52 week high of $369.70. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $340.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $346.95.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.40.

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.