Plato Investment Management Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 156.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,506 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 2,139 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 118.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,847 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $567,372,000 after acquiring an additional 901,679 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in General Dynamics by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,136,525,000 after purchasing an additional 863,392 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,238,561 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,265,349,000 after purchasing an additional 677,665 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 831.1% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 737,259 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $251,405,000 after purchasing an additional 658,081 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 6,680.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 591,488 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $199,130,000 after buying an additional 582,765 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE GD opened at $346.48 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $345.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $346.69. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $267.39 and a one year high of $369.70. 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 company has a market capitalization of $93.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The business had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.66 earnings per share. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were issued 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 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 40.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $371.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the business’s 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 $271,394,759.13. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 3,819 shares of the company’s 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 owned 44,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,825,134.50. This trade represents a 7.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 51,260 shares of company stock worth $18,133,971. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.