Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Acquires 10,783 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 41.8%, now holding 36,549 shares valued at approximately $9.96 million.
• Several analysts have upgraded General Dynamics' stock ratings, with Wolfe Research and Deutsche Bank setting target prices of $360.00 and $342.00, respectively.
• General Dynamics recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, reflecting a 1.9% yield and a dividend payout ratio of 40.27%.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 41.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,549 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 10,783 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $9,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in General Dynamics by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,774,381,000 after acquiring an additional 463,497 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,502,305 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,499,819,000 after acquiring an additional 256,687 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in General Dynamics by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,935,046 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $773,355,000 after buying an additional 145,978 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in General Dynamics by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,606,137 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $686,691,000 after buying an additional 103,870 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,582,388 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $431,327,000 after buying an additional 5,313 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $348.00 to $368.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $360.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $284.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $315.78.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total value of $50,629,589.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 769,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $217,898,829.91. This represents a 18.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP William A. Moss sold 17,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.40, for a total value of $5,600,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 16,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,260,782.80. The trade was a 51.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 448,900 shares of company stock valued at $135,121,890. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:GD traded down $1.1050 on Thursday, hitting $316.3750. 174,662 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,434,490. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1 year low of $239.20 and a 1 year high of $322.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $301.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $278.37. The company has a market cap of $85.10 billion, a PE ratio of 21.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.48.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $13.04 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.26 earnings per share. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.050-15.150 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 40.27%.

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.