General Dynamics Corporation $GD Shares Bought by Geode Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management increased its stake in General Dynamics by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 6.07 million shares valued at about $2.04 billion.
• General Dynamics reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of $4.10 and revenue of $13.48 billion, both above analyst estimates and revenue up 10.3% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.59 per share from $1.50, while analysts currently hold a Moderate Buy consensus with a $387.40 target price.

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,065,462 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 195,604 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.24% of General Dynamics worth $2,039,742,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Joule Financial LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Joule Financial LLC now owns 705 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,889 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,993,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.6% in the third quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 1,196 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 65.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 978 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.9%

GD stock opened at $349.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.38. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $268.10 and a one year high of $369.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $341.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $346.56.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. General Dynamics's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered 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, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $380.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $387.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of General Dynamics 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total transaction of $11,655,934.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $271,394,759.13. This represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. 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. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

About General Dynamics

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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