Baird Financial Group Inc. Raises Holdings in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. has increased its stake in General Dynamics Corporation by 1.5%, now holding 77,393 shares, valued at approximately $21.1 million.
• General Dynamics reported a quarterly EPS of $3.74, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.47, and projected a future EPS guidance for FY 2025 between 15.050-15.150.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, yielding 1.8%, which is slated for payment on November 14th to shareholders on record by October 10th.

Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,393 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,111 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $21,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 213.8% during the first quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Copia Wealth Management purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $324.64 on Tuesday. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $239.20 and a one year high of $326.02. The company has a market cap of $87.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.79, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.36. The business's 50 day moving average price is $307.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $282.56.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.27. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 8.13%.The firm had revenue of $13.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.050-15.150 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GD. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on General Dynamics from $284.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded 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. Barclays raised their target price on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $325.00 target price on General Dynamics and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $315.78.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 129,090 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.57, for a total transaction of $40,478,751.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 769,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at $241,325,666.99. This trade represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Malcolm sold 1,210 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.04, for a total value of $386,038.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,249,741.44. This trade represents a 10.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 458,260 shares of company stock valued at $138,125,545 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.

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