HM Payson & Co. Sells 1,530 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

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

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 5,370 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,464,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 3,148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $858,000 after buying an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the first quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics by 305.8% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 69,732 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $19,008,000 after acquiring an additional 52,550 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $335.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 4th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $358.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD opened at $342.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.43 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $341.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $323.70. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52-week low of $239.20 and a 52-week high of $360.50.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.89%.

General Dynamics Company 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.