Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Purchases 14,474 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Harel Insurance Investments increased its General Dynamics stake by 39.8% in the first quarter, buying 14,474 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 50,839 shares valued at about $17.45 million.
• General Dynamics reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.10 beating estimates and revenue of $13.48 billion topping forecasts, while revenue grew 10.3% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.59 per share, and analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy with an average price target of $391.15.

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 39.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,839 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 14,474 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $17,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 1,725.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 650.0% during the third quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 75 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 65.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded General Dynamics from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $391.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. This trade represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,000,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,884,695. The trade was a 33.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 78,190 shares of company stock worth $27,041,022 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $369.25 on Wednesday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12-month low of $293.95 and a 12-month high of $380.71. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $351.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $350.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $99.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.66 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.03%.

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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