LPL Financial LLC Acquires 32,095 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its General Dynamics stake by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 32,095 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 597,408 shares worth about $201.1 million.
• General Dynamics reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.10 versus $3.67 expected and revenue of $13.48 billion versus $12.70 billion expected. Quarterly revenue rose 10.3% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.59 per share, payable August 7, implying an annualized dividend of $6.36 and a yield of 1.8%. Meanwhile, analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $387.40.

LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 597,408 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 32,095 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.22% of General Dynamics worth $201,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Joule Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Joule Financial LLC now owns 705 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,889 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,993,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc raised its position in General Dynamics by 2.6% in the third quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 1,196 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. raised its position in General Dynamics by 65.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 978 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on GD. UBS Group dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $371.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $380.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded General Dynamics from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $387.40.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of GD stock opened at $345.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $93.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $339.79 and a 200-day moving average of $346.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $268.10 and a 1-year high of $369.70.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business 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 $1.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value 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 approximately $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Company 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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