Martingale Asset Management L P Acquires 5,864 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management increased its stake in General Dynamics by 7.9%, purchasing 5,864 shares to hold 80,524 shares valued at about $27.46 million at quarter-end.
• Insider sales were significant: VP David Paddock sold 20,360 shares for roughly $6.82 million (a 35.7% cut to his holding) and VP Mark Rayha sold 4,370 shares for about $1.52 million (a 35.5% reduction).
• Analyst outlook and dividend: analysts have mostly raised price targets (consensus rating "Moderate Buy" with a $376.26 target) and the company bumped its quarterly dividend to $1.59 ($6.36 annual, ~1.8% yield).

Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,524 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,864 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $27,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,249 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $767,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 1,196 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Columbus Macro LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 8,644 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,948,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. AGH Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 1.5% in the third quarter. AGH Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,253 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $768,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 3.9% in the third quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 914 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, VP David Paddock sold 20,360 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.92, for a total transaction of $6,818,971.20. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 36,644 shares in the company, valued at $12,272,808.48. The trade was a 35.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Rayha sold 4,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.79, for a total value of $1,524,212.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 7,936 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,767,997.44. This trade represents a 35.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $371.00 to $389.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Argus upped their target price on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $376.26.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $355.07 on Friday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1 year low of $239.20 and a 1 year high of $369.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.39. The company's 50-day moving average is $356.20 and its 200 day moving average is $343.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The aerospace company reported $4.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $14.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.77 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.01% and a return on equity of 17.57%. General Dynamics's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.15 earnings per share. General Dynamics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.100-16.200 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This is a boost from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.83%.

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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