The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Stake in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 4.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 128,287 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 6,126 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $45,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,840,590,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,323,170 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,812,058,000 after buying an additional 294,456 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,065,462 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,039,742,000 after buying an additional 195,604 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,307,389 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,786,786,000 after buying an additional 114,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,443,453 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,159,273,000 after buying an additional 110,536 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $382.08 on Thursday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52 week low of $306.77 and a 52 week high of $400.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $375.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $356.46. The company has a market cap of $103.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.31, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.28. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 8.18%.The business had revenue of $14.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.74 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. General Dynamics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.800-16.900 EPS. Research analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.97 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 38.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on General Dynamics from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $421.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Monday, August 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $410.89.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,000,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,643 shares in the company, valued at $3,884,695. This trade represents a 33.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 43,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.04, for a total transaction of $16,323,767.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,923,716.68. This represents a 49.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 100,228 shares of company stock worth $38,052,853 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.