Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Acquires 14,474 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 39.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,839 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,474 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $17,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,338,169,000 after purchasing an additional 528,769 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 155.6% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 104,773 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $35,273,000 after purchasing an additional 63,781 shares in the last quarter. Financial Planning Hawaii Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $1,103,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $7,914,000. Finally, Cullen Investment Group LTD. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 371.1% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 19,467 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,889,000 after buying an additional 15,335 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,000,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,643 shares in the company, valued at $3,884,695. This represents a 33.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $369.25 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a PEG ratio of 2.25 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’s 50-day moving average price is $351.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $350.04. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12 month low of $293.95 and a 12 month high of $380.71.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The firm’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.64 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 40.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $385.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $391.15.

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.