General Dynamics Corporation $GD Shares Purchased by State Street Corp

Key Points

• State Street Corp increased its stake in General Dynamics by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 11.3 million shares valued at about $3.81 billion. Institutional ownership remains very high at 86.14%.
• General Dynamics reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.10 beating estimates and revenue of $13.48 billion also topping expectations. Revenue rose 10.3% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.59 per share, and analysts currently have a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $388.40.

State Street Corp lifted its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,323,170 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 294,456 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned 4.19% of General Dynamics worth $3,812,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 140.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,445 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $240,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $352,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,284,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $359.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $97.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12-month low of $275.49 and a 12-month high of $369.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $340.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $346.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The business's revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.66 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on GD shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating 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 on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded General Dynamics from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $388.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,457,677.75. The trade was a 48.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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