Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Invests $376,000 in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

Key Points

• Baker Avenue Asset Management LP acquired 1,380 shares of General Dynamics Corporation, valued at approximately $376,000, according to its Form 13F filing with the SEC.
• General Dynamics reported a Q2 earnings per share of $3.74, exceeding the consensus estimate of $3.47, with revenue up 8.9% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, representing an annual yield of 1.9%.

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,380 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $376,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 213.8% during the 1st quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Copia Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $309.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $348.00 to $368.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $360.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $315.78.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD stock traded up $0.40 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $314.16. The company had a trading volume of 68,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,472,957. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week high of $322.50. 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $292.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.48.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $13.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.13 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.26 EPS. As a group, analysts predict 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, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 43,860 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.28, for a total transaction of $13,696,600.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,452,165. This trade represents a 52.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 5,490 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.81, for a total transaction of $1,717,326.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,715,137.23. The trade was a 50.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 268,370 shares of company stock valued at $78,408,011. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About General Dynamics

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.