World Investment Advisors Acquires 2,526 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GDFree Report) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,413 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 2,526 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in General Dynamics were worth $7,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,338,169,000 after purchasing an additional 528,769 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 5.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,627,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,236,900,000 after purchasing an additional 187,435 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in General Dynamics by 35.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,136,525,000 after purchasing an additional 863,392 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 3.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,770,714 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $603,813,000 after purchasing an additional 58,524 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 118.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,847 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $567,372,000 after purchasing an additional 901,679 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GD. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $388.20.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on GD

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total value of $11,655,934.62. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 3,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.50, for a total value of $1,350,016.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,825,134.50. This trade represents a 7.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 123,970 shares of company stock worth $43,174,793. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting General Dynamics

Here are the key news stories impacting General Dynamics this week:

  • Positive Sentiment: General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) announced a new partnership with NightDragon to accelerate U.S. government adoption of emerging AI and cybersecurity technologies, which could support future federal contract growth and reinforce the company’s positioning in secure-tech markets. Article Title
  • Neutral Sentiment: Two separate filings showed EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold a combined 72,710 shares on May 11 and May 12 at prices around $343 to $345 per share. Insider selling can weigh on sentiment, but the trades do not necessarily indicate a change in the company’s fundamentals. Article Title
  • Negative Sentiment: Market commentary around the GDIT-NightDragon deal noted that General Dynamics shares fell after the announcement, suggesting investors may be treating the news as incremental rather than a near-term catalyst. Article Title

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.5%

GD stock opened at $341.31 on Thursday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $267.39 and a 1-year high of $369.70. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $344.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $346.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GDGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were given a $1.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.03%.

General Dynamics Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for General Dynamics (NYSE:GD)

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