Leonteq Securities AG Takes $1.33 Million Position in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,960 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,333,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $387.40.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD opened at $338.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a twelve month low of $268.10 and a twelve month high of $369.70. The company has a 50 day moving average of $341.96 and a 200-day moving average of $346.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total value of $11,655,934.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $271,394,759.13. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 119,600 shares of company stock valued at $41,650,580. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics 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.