Independent Financial Group LLC Purchases New Stake in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Independent Financial Group LLC opened a new position in General Dynamics during the first quarter, buying 6,452 shares valued at about $2.21 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with 86.14% of the stock held by institutions, while several other funds also recently increased or initiated positions.
• General Dynamics reported better-than-expected quarterly results, including EPS of $4.10 and revenue of $13.48 billion, and it also announced a $1.59 quarterly dividend payable August 7.

Independent Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,452 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $2,214,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 140.2% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,445 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 2nd quarter valued at $240,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at $352,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,284,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GD shares. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on General Dynamics from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $385.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $391.15.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

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

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD opened at $368.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $99.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12 month low of $293.95 and a 12 month high of $380.71. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $352.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $350.49.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.64 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

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

General Dynamics Profile

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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