Weiss Asset Management LP Takes Position in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,394 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $822,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GD. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1,725.0% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 65.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 79.6% during the first quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 88 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 220.7% during the fourth quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 93 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GD shares. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group upgraded General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $391.15.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.6%

GD opened at $389.22 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $357.11 and a 200-day moving average of $351.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 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. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $306.03 and a 1-year high of $392.57.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. General Dynamics’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.66 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given 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 1.6%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.03%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at $13,457,677.75. The trade was a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,000,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,884,695. This trade represents a 33.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 78,190 shares of company stock valued at $27,041,022 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.