Center for Wealth Management Advisory Buys Shares of 4,176 General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Center for Wealth Management Advisory initiated a new stake in General Dynamics, buying 4,176 shares worth about $1.43 million in the first quarter.
• General Dynamics reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.10 versus estimates of $3.67 and revenue of $13.48 billion, up 10.3% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.59 per share payable on August 7, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $388.40.

Center for Wealth Management Advisory purchased a new position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,176 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $1,433,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 118.3% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,847 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $567,372,000 after purchasing an additional 901,679 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 35.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,136,525,000 after purchasing an additional 863,392 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 831.1% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 737,259 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $251,405,000 after buying an additional 658,081 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 6,680.8% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 591,488 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $199,130,000 after buying an additional 582,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $8,338,169,000 after acquiring an additional 528,769 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Stock Up 2.5%

GD stock opened at $363.11 on Thursday. General Dynamics Corporation has a twelve month low of $290.30 and a twelve month high of $369.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $98.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.34. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $342.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $347.92.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.66 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.63 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd 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 Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 40.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,000,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,884,695. The trade was a 33.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,190 shares of company stock valued at $27,041,022. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on GD. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised General Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut General Dynamics from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $388.40.

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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