Croban Takes $1.25 Million Position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

Croban acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 4,586 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $1,250,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 34,578.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,244,600 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $339,253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241,011 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $279,582,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,265,813,000 after buying an additional 706,317 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in General Dynamics by 7.4% in 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 buying an additional 463,497 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 6,387.2% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 401,236 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $105,722,000 after acquiring an additional 395,051 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on GD shares. Susquehanna boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $298.00 to $342.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $295.53.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock traded up $2.92 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $305.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,147,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,501,107. The stock's 50 day moving average is $281.48 and its 200 day moving average is $269.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.46. General Dynamics Corporation has a twelve month low of $239.20 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.23. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 17.82%. The company had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.88 EPS. General Dynamics's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total transaction of $50,629,589.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 769,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at $217,898,829.91. This trade represents 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 through this link. 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.