Saratoga Research & Investment Management Decreases Stock Position in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Saratoga Research & Investment Management cut its General Dynamics stake by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,764 shares and leaving it with 188,679 shares worth about $63.5 million.
• General Dynamics reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, with EPS of $4.10 versus $3.67 expected and revenue of $13.48 billion versus $12.70 billion forecast, while revenue rose 10.3% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.59 per share, up from $1.50, and its stock has drawn mixed analyst views, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $388.20.

Saratoga Research & Investment Management lowered its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 188,679 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 8,764 shares during the period. General Dynamics makes up approximately 3.3% of Saratoga Research & Investment Management's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Saratoga Research & Investment Management owned about 0.07% of General Dynamics worth $63,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,276 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,113,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares during the period. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 6,942 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 84,306 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $28,382,000 after buying an additional 1,540 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 220.7% in the fourth quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 93 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 3,995 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,345,000 after purchasing an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $334.29 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $343.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $346.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market cap of $90.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.04, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $268.10 and a fifty-two week high of $369.70.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $13.48 billion for 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 revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.66 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. General Dynamics's payout ratio is presently 40.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total transaction of $11,655,934.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $271,394,759.13. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 3,819 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.50, for a total value of $1,350,016.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,825,134.50. The trade was a 7.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 119,600 shares of company stock valued at $41,650,580. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on GD. UBS Group cut their target price on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $371.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 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, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $388.20.

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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