General Dynamics Corporation $GD Shares Bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,307,389 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 114,647 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 1.96% of General Dynamics worth $1,786,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GD. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 118.3% in the 3rd 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. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 35.0% in the 3rd 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. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,238,561 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,265,349,000 after purchasing an additional 677,665 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 831.1% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 737,259 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $251,405,000 after purchasing an additional 658,081 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 6,680.8% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 591,488 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $199,130,000 after purchasing an additional 582,765 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $371.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Argus increased their target price on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $387.40.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 766,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $271,394,759.13. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 119,600 shares of company stock valued at $41,650,580. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $340.85 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $339.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $346.33. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12 month low of $268.10 and a 12 month high of $369.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.45, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.03%.

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.