California State Teachers Retirement System Buys 126,063,548 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System reportedly increased its General Dynamics stake by 35,603%, purchasing 126.1 million additional shares and holding 126.4 million shares, according to its latest SEC filing.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $410.89. General Dynamics also exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $4.24 in EPS and $14.09 billion in revenue.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.59, equivalent to a 1.8% annual yield, while insiders sold more than 100,000 shares worth approximately $38.1 million during the latest quarter.

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 35,603.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 126,417,629 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 126,063,548 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 46.72% of General Dynamics worth $44,782,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GD. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 1.9% in the second quarter. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC now owns 1,426 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Willner & Heller LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC now owns 3,443 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,220,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 4,551 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 949 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on General Dynamics from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on General Dynamics from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and set a $384.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $410.89.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $359.54 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $97.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52-week low of $306.77 and a 52-week high of $400.00. The company's 50 day moving average is $378.48 and its 200 day moving average is $357.36.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $14.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.52 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 8.18%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.74 EPS. General Dynamics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.800-16.900 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. General Dynamics's payout ratio is currently 38.80%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Phebe Novakovic sold 51,568 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $382.58, for a total transaction of $19,728,885.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares in the company, valued at $293,231,119.06. The trade was a 6.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,000,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,643 shares in the company, valued at $3,884,695. This represents a 33.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 100,228 shares of company stock worth $38,052,853. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics 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.

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