General Dynamics Corporation $GD Shares Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 63.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,964 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,182 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $22,297,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 118.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,847 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $567,372,000 after purchasing an additional 901,679 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,136,525,000 after purchasing an additional 863,392 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 831.1% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 737,259 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $251,405,000 after purchasing an additional 658,081 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,338,169,000 after buying an additional 528,769 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 613.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 613,732 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $206,619,000 after buying an additional 527,651 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting General Dynamics

Here are the key news stories impacting General Dynamics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect General Dynamics to report approximately $3.97 in earnings per share and $13.54 billion in revenue for the second quarter. Expectations for a potential earnings beat are supporting investor sentiment ahead of the release. General Dynamics Q2 earnings expectations
• Positive Sentiment: The aerospace and defense sector continues to benefit from strong defense demand and improved production activity. General Dynamics is included among companies viewed as capable of meeting or exceeding second-quarter targets, which could reinforce confidence in its backlog and long-term growth prospects. Aerospace and defense earnings targets
• Neutral Sentiment: General Dynamics’ dividend remains an attraction for income-oriented investors, with a reported yield of roughly 1.63%. However, the immediate focus is likely to remain on quarterly earnings, guidance and cash flow rather than the dividend. General Dynamics dividend and earnings preview
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about rising costs, supply-chain constraints and execution risks. Any margin pressure, production delays or cautious guidance could offset strong demand and trigger profit-taking after the stock’s recent advance. Aerospace and defense earnings risks

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on GD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $385.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on General Dynamics from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $393.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,000,200.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,643 shares in the company, valued at $3,884,695. This represents a 33.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were 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 directly owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 78,190 shares of company stock valued at $27,041,022. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD opened at $393.85 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $106.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.79, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $306.03 and a fifty-two week high of $395.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $358.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $352.28.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 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 analysts’ expectations of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.66 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.03%.

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.