Dougherty & Associates LLC Takes $1.01 Million Position in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Dougherty & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,991 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,007,000. General Dynamics accounts for about 0.9% of Dougherty & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 140.2% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 2,011 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at approximately $352,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,284,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased 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. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $388.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 3,819 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.50, for a total transaction of $1,350,016.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 44,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,825,134.50. This represents a 7.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 119,600 shares of company stock worth $41,650,580. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $334.29 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.40 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $268.10 and a fifty-two week high of $369.70. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $343.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $346.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.38.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.66 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. 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.