Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 5,136 General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 5,136 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,729,000. General Dynamics accounts for about 1.0% of Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,338,169,000 after acquiring an additional 528,769 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,065,462 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,039,742,000 after purchasing an additional 195,604 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,307,389 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,786,786,000 after buying an additional 114,647 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,627,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,236,900,000 after buying an additional 187,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 35.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,136,525,000 after buying an additional 863,392 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $371.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $387.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction of $1,350,016.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at $13,457,677.75. The trade was a 48.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 119,600 shares of company stock worth $41,650,580. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $346.43 on Monday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12 month low of $268.10 and a 12 month high of $369.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $340.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $346.34.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.03%.

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.