14,791 Shares in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) Purchased by CCM Investment Group LLC

Key Points

• CCM Investment Group LLC acquired 14,791 shares of General Dynamics Corporation, valuing this new stake at approximately $3.98 million.
• General Dynamics reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.74, exceeding analysts' estimates, with revenue reaching $13.04 billion, an 8.9% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.9%, to be paid on November 14th.

CCM Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 14,791 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $3,980,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in General Dynamics by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,774,381,000 after purchasing an additional 463,497 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,502,305 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,499,819,000 after buying an additional 256,687 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,212,422 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,109,931,000 after purchasing an additional 33,962 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in General Dynamics by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,935,046 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $773,355,000 after purchasing an additional 145,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in General Dynamics by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,606,137 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $686,691,000 after purchasing an additional 103,870 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total value of $50,629,589.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 769,607 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 5,490 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.81, for a total value of $1,717,326.90. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,483 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,715,137.23. This trade represents a 50.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 302,110 shares of company stock valued at $89,042,859. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock traded up $3.55 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $317.56. 813,487 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,462,850. General Dynamics Corporation has a twelve month low of $239.20 and a twelve month high of $322.50. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $296.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $276.16. 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 firm has a market cap of $85.42 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.48.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $13.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.13 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 8.13%. General Dynamics's revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $348.00 to $368.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. 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 report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on General Dynamics from $284.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $315.78.

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.