Global Retirement Partners LLC Has $2.01 Million Stock Position in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its General Dynamics stake by 154.4% in the fourth quarter, ending with 5,959 shares valued at about $2.01 million.
• General Dynamics reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.10 topping estimates and revenue of $13.48 billion beating expectations; revenue also rose 10.3% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.59 per share, and analysts currently view the stock as a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $387.40.

Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 154.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,959 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,617 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $8,338,169,000 after acquiring an additional 528,769 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 5.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,627,155 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,236,900,000 after acquiring an additional 187,435 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 35.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,136,525,000 after acquiring an additional 863,392 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,770,714 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $603,813,000 after acquiring an additional 58,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 118.3% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,847 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $567,372,000 after buying an additional 901,679 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $343.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $92.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $341.74 and a 200-day moving average of $346.48. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $268.10 and a one year high of $369.70.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a $1.59 dividend. This is a boost from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total value of $11,655,934.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at $271,394,759.13. This represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 3,819 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.50, for a total value of $1,350,016.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,825,134.50. This trade represents a 7.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 119,600 shares of company stock valued at $41,650,580 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GD. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen cut General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $385.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $387.40.

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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