Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Boosts Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in General Dynamics Corporation by 85.8%, owning 337,612 shares valued at approximately $92 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• General Dynamics reported earnings of $3.74 per share for its recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.47, while also generating a revenue of $13.04 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.8%, payable on November 14th, following the record date of October 10th.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 85.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 337,612 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 155,909 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.13% of General Dynamics worth $92,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Retirement Guys Formula LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the first quarter worth about $1,692,000. Advisory Resource Group lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 7.1% in the first quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 19,200 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $5,234,000 after buying an additional 1,276 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 18.9% in the first quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 16,144 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,401,000 after buying an additional 2,568 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 31.6% in the first quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 33,644 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $9,171,000 after buying an additional 8,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 11.5% during the first quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 16,522 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 8,150 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.18, for a total value of $2,617,617.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 22,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,328,685.24. This represents a 26.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 33,740 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.20, for a total transaction of $10,634,848.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,244,518.40. This trade represents a 42.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 458,260 shares of company stock valued at $138,125,545. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on GD. Argus set a $295.00 target price on General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $314.00 price objective on General Dynamics and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. TD Cowen upped their target price on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $315.78.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD traded down $1.84 on Wednesday, reaching $322.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 403,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,406,550. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock's 50-day moving average is $308.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $282.85. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52-week low of $239.20 and a 52-week high of $326.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.65, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.50.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.27. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The company had revenue of $13.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is 40.27%.

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.