Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Purchases 5,738 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Cullen Frost Bankers boosted its General Dynamics stake by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 5,738 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 30,866 shares worth about $10.4 million.
• General Dynamics reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.10 and revenue of $13.48 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations; revenue also rose 10.3% year over year.
• The company raised its dividend to $1.59 per share quarterly, while analysts currently maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $387.40.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 22.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,866 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,738 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $10,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 453.3% during the third quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 9,418 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,212,000 after acquiring an additional 7,716 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 703.4% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,548 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,597,000 after acquiring an additional 9,235 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $8,338,169,000 after acquiring an additional 528,769 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.6% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 917,424 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $312,842,000 after acquiring an additional 32,262 shares during the period. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 114.7% during the third quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,124 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,088,000 after acquiring an additional 3,271 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $385.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price target on General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $387.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total transaction of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. The trade was a 48.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total value of $11,655,934.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at $271,394,759.13. This represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 119,600 shares of company stock valued at $41,650,580. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $339.54 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $342.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $346.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12-month low of $268.10 and a 12-month high of $369.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.03%.

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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