General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Stock Position Lifted by Connolly Sarah T.

Connolly Sarah T. increased its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 24.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 1,071 shares during the quarter. Connolly Sarah T.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Moreno Evelyn V lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 8.0% during the first quarter. Moreno Evelyn V now owns 22,820 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,208,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in General Dynamics by 1.2% during the first quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 662,116 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $151,101,000 after buying an additional 7,895 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in General Dynamics by 1.2% during the first quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 55,152 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $12,586,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its position in General Dynamics by 11.4% during the first quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,064 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Finally, Perennial Advisors LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 1.6% during the first quarter. Perennial Advisors LLC now owns 19,911 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,544,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.08% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded down $2.55 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $223.82. 198,406 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,168,502. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $61.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.40, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.84. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $202.35 and a 52 week high of $256.86. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $220.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.91.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The aerospace company reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $10.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.45 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 18.01% and a net margin of 8.24%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.75 EPS. Research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 6th will be paid a $1.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 5th. This represents a $5.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.35%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 33,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.96, for a total value of $7,575,110.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 778,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $177,373,852.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 33,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.96, for a total value of $7,575,110.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 778,092 shares in the company, valued at $177,373,852.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.46, for a total value of $3,043,710.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 44,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,955,637.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 53,230 shares of company stock worth $12,086,716 over the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on GD shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on General Dynamics from $248.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on General Dynamics from $244.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.38.

General Dynamics 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.