Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Has $3.39 Million Stake in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Smithbridge Asset Management boosted its General Dynamics stake by 149.6% in the fourth quarter, owning 10,060 shares worth about $3.39 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased their positions, and institutions/hedge funds now own 86.14% of General Dynamics stock.
• General Dynamics reported better-than-expected quarterly results with EPS of $4.10 and revenue of $13.48 billion, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $1.59 per share.

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE grew its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 149.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,060 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,030 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GD. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 118.3% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,847 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $567,372,000 after purchasing an additional 901,679 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 35.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,136,525,000 after acquiring an additional 863,392 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,238,561 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $8,265,349,000 after acquiring an additional 677,665 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 831.1% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 737,259 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $251,405,000 after acquiring an additional 658,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 6,680.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 591,488 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $199,130,000 after acquiring an additional 582,765 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GD shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Argus increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $371.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $387.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total transaction of $12,596,179.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at $13,457,677.75. This trade represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.2%

General Dynamics stock opened at $341.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $92.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.49, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $268.10 and a one year high of $369.70. The company's fifty day moving average price is $339.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $346.36.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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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