General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) Shares Bought by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 8.2%, owning 269,515 shares valued at approximately $73.46 million post-acquisition.
• Insider sales included the selling of 5,490 shares by Director Leon Rudy F. De and 43,860 shares by EVP Mark Lagrand Burns, each resulting in over a 50% decrease in their holdings.
• Analysts have varied price targets for General Dynamics, with Citigroup increasing their target from $348 to $368 while others have set lower expectations, reflecting mixed market sentiment.

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 8.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 269,515 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 20,491 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.10% of General Dynamics worth $73,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 213.8% during the 1st quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Copia Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 5,490 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.81, for a total transaction of $1,717,326.90. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,483 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,715,137.23. The trade was a 50.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 43,860 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.28, for a total value of $13,696,600.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,875 shares in the company, valued at $12,452,165. This trade represents a 52.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 268,370 shares of company stock valued at $78,408,011. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wolfe Research raised shares of General Dynamics from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $360.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $348.00 to $368.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $314.00 price target on General Dynamics and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $315.78.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:GD traded down $1.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $310.45. 891,124 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,277,841. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $239.20 and a 12-month high of $322.50. The firm has a market cap of $83.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.48. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $291.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $273.88.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $13.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.13 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 8.13%. General Dynamics's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 40.27%.

General Dynamics 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.