General Dynamics Corporation $GD Stock: Moors & Cabot Inc. Raises Stake

Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,951 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,985 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at $6,840,590,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,811,099 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,183,964,000 after acquiring an additional 374,682 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the second quarter worth about $2,603,527,000. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.3% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 3,555,708 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,179,891,000 after acquiring an additional 9,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 806.3% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 1,661,702 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $588,641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,478,353 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $363.13. The stock had a trading volume of 735,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,295,961. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52 week low of $306.77 and a 52 week high of $400.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $349.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $355.04. The company has a market capitalization of $98.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.30.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The aerospace company reported $4.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.37. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 8.24%. The business had revenue of $14.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 17.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Robert K. Steel sold 7,440 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.05, for a total value of $2,574,612.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,071,370.80. This represents a 70.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 45,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.42, for a total transaction of $16,391,481.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 766,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,012,888.94. This trade represents a 5.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GD. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $420.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank reissued a “hold” rating and set a $384.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $374.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $395.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $408.94.

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics Corporation is an aerospace and defense company that develops and manufactures products and provides services for commercial, government and military customers. Its businesses span aerospace, marine systems, combat systems and defense technologies. The company makes Gulfstream business jets and provides aircraft services. Its marine systems operations design and build submarines and surface ships, while its combat systems business produces military vehicles, weapons systems and munitions.