General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) Shares Bought by National Bank of Canada FI

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in General Dynamics Corporation by 44.7%, owning 508,344 shares valued at approximately $138.6 million after acquiring 156,915 additional shares.
• General Dynamics reported $3.74 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates of $3.47, with revenue of $13.04 billion up 8.9% year-on-year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.9% scheduled to be paid on November 14th.

National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 44.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 508,344 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 156,915 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.19% of General Dynamics worth $138,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 213.8% during the first quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Copia Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GD shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $348.00 to $368.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $325.00 price target on General Dynamics and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. TD Securities increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $309.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $315.78.

General Dynamics Price Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $312.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $84.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.48. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $239.20 and a one year high of $322.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $294.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $275.16. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $13.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.13 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 8.13%. The company's revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.26 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 40.27%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 5,490 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.81, for a total value of $1,717,326.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,715,137.23. This represents a 50.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 769,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $217,898,829.91. This represents a 18.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 268,370 shares of company stock valued at $78,408,011 over the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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