General Dynamics Corporation $GD Position Increased by Panagora Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management increased its stake in General Dynamics by 73% in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 224,342 shares and bringing its total holdings to 531,693 shares worth about $179 million.
• General Dynamics reported strong quarterly results, with earnings per share of $4.10 and revenue of $13.48 billion, both above analyst expectations. Revenue rose 10.3% from a year earlier.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.59 per share, implying an annualized payout of $6.36 and a yield of 1.8%. Analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy with an average price target of $388.40.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 73.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 531,693 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 224,342 shares during the period. General Dynamics accounts for approximately 0.6% of Panagora Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.20% of General Dynamics worth $179,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 453.3% in the third quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 9,418 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,212,000 after purchasing an additional 7,716 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $8,338,169,000 after buying an additional 528,769 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 114.7% in the 3rd quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,124 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,088,000 after buying an additional 3,271 shares during the last quarter. Jain Global LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 97.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jain Global LLC now owns 169,305 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $57,733,000 after buying an additional 83,692 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 155.6% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 104,773 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $35,273,000 after buying an additional 63,781 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE GD opened at $359.92 on Monday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $275.49 and a 1-year high of $369.70. The company has a market capitalization of $97.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.34. The stock's 50 day moving average is $340.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $346.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%.General Dynamics's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.66 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group raised shares of General Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $388.40.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Company 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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