HM Payson & Co. Lowers Stock Position in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

HM Payson & Co. cut its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 128,433 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,530 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $43,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GD. Goldstone Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 41.9% during the third quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $884,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $697,000. Ethic Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 10,851 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541 shares in the last quarter. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 60.3% in the 3rd quarter. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Live Oak Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at $208,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.9%

GD opened at $342.19 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $341.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $323.70. General Dynamics Corporation has a twelve month low of $239.20 and a twelve month high of $360.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $12.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.49 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 18.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.35 earnings per share. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.300-15.35 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 6th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 38.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research increased their target price on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $369.00 to $381.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $390.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Melius Research upgraded shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $358.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, VP David Paddock sold 20,360 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.92, for a total value of $6,818,971.20. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 36,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,272,808.48. This represents a 35.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.