Aurora Private Wealth Inc. Increases Holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 25,390.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 203,670 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 202,871 shares during the quarter. General Dynamics accounts for 1.5% of Aurora Private Wealth Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of General Dynamics worth $55,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Hickory Point Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $692,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 45.4% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 80,565 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $21,228,000 after purchasing an additional 25,144 shares during the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 79,450 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $20,934,000 after purchasing an additional 12,453 shares in the last quarter. Renasant Bank lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 3,258 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Resource Group boosted its position in General Dynamics by 7.1% in the first quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 19,200 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $5,234,000 after buying an additional 1,276 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GD. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Wednesday. Susquehanna lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Argus set a $295.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $293.28.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total transaction of $50,629,589.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 769,607 shares in the company, valued at $217,898,829.91. The trade was a 18.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded up $5.72 on Thursday, hitting $291.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,715,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,395,822. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $275.93 and a 200-day moving average of $266.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.82. General Dynamics Corporation has a twelve month low of $239.20 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.46.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 17.82%. The business had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.88 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. General Dynamics's payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

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.