Pitcairn Co. Boosts Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Pitcairn Co. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,866 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,052 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $862,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 14,114 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,989,000 after acquiring an additional 2,031 shares during the period. PYA Waltman Capital LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 6,439 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 232.9% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 6,538 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 4,574 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter worth $493,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. BTIG Research assumed coverage on General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $345.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $305.00 to $335.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $311.33.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD opened at $291.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $79.87 billion, a PE ratio of 23.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $292.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.91. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $214.53 and a 1-year high of $302.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.30 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $11.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.70 EPS. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total transaction of $3,978,647.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 79,255 shares in the company, valued at $23,630,670.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total value of $3,914,215.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at $29,816,065.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $3,978,647.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 79,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,630,670.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 68,636 shares of company stock valued at $20,209,317 over the last quarter. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Company Profile

General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, charter, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.