Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Buys 91,591 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 58.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 247,482 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 91,591 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.09% of General Dynamics worth $67,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,265,813,000 after purchasing an additional 706,317 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,774,381,000 after purchasing an additional 463,497 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,688,672 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,496,939,000 after buying an additional 131,268 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,212,422 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,109,931,000 after buying an additional 33,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in General Dynamics by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,935,046 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $773,355,000 after buying an additional 145,978 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total transaction of $50,629,589.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 769,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at $217,898,829.91. This represents a 18.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock traded down $0.87 during trading on Friday, reaching $299.22. 1,636,205 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,406,219. The company has a market capitalization of $80.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm's 50-day moving average is $284.47 and its 200 day moving average is $270.59. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1 year low of $239.20 and a 1 year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 17.82%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.88 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Argus set a $295.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $348.00 price objective (up previously from $330.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $294.53.

About General Dynamics

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.