D.A. Davidson & CO. Boosts Holdings in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 86,791 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,218 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $25,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 783.3% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 106 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $340.73 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $91.65 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.47. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52-week low of $239.20 and a 52-week high of $347.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $327.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $300.15.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.27. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The business had revenue of $13.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.13 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GD. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $314.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $283.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $280.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $327.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark Malcolm sold 3,220 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.45, for a total value of $1,060,829.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,355,777.70. This trade represents a 24.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 129,090 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.57, for a total transaction of $40,478,751.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 769,607 shares in the company, valued at $241,325,666.99. This trade represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 275,020 shares of company stock worth $86,414,503. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Company Profile

General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, charter, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.