General Dynamics Corporation $GD Shares Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 3.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,770,714 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 58,524 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $603,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 453.3% in the 3rd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 9,418 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,212,000 after acquiring an additional 7,716 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 703.4% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,548 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,597,000 after purchasing an additional 9,235 shares during the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 73.5% in the third quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,649,000 after purchasing an additional 4,532 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.6% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 917,424 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $312,842,000 after purchasing an additional 32,262 shares during the period. Finally, Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at $1,007,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP David Paddock sold 20,360 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction 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 owned 36,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,272,808.48. The trade was a 35.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Rayha sold 4,370 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the vice president owned 7,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.5%

General Dynamics stock opened at $353.88 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.44. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $239.20 and a one year high of $369.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $355.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $343.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.39.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The aerospace company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.11 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $14.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $4.15 EPS. General Dynamics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.100-16.200 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $398.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.26.

General Dynamics Company 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.