General Dynamics Corporation $GD Position Boosted by Pzena Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics Corporation by 4.7%, owning about $85 million worth of shares after the purchase.
• Insider trading activities included CEO Phebe N. Novakovic selling 129,090 shares for approximately $40.5 million, marking a 14.36% decrease in their ownership.
• General Dynamics announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share with an annualized yield of 1.8%, scheduled for payment on November 14th.

Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 4.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 291,536 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 13,008 shares during the quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned about 0.11% of General Dynamics worth $85,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 27.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,566 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,245,000 after buying an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 58.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 1,249 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 3,388 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $923,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the first quarter worth approximately $67,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GD. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their target price on General Dynamics from $348.00 to $368.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. TD Cowen upped their target price on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $314.00 target price on General Dynamics and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $324.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 129,090 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.57, for a total value of $40,478,751.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 769,607 shares in the company, valued at $241,325,666.99. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP William A. Moss sold 17,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.40, for a total value of $5,600,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 16,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,260,782.80. The trade was a 51.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 275,020 shares of company stock valued at $86,414,503. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $333.03 on Monday. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $239.20 and a one year high of $347.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $324.93 and a 200-day moving average of $297.14. The company has a market capitalization of $89.58 billion, a PE ratio of 22.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.36.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $13.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.13 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 8.13%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.26 EPS. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.050-15.150 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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