Panagora Asset Management Inc. Has $179 Million Stake in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 73.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 531,693 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 224,342 shares during the quarter. General Dynamics makes up about 0.6% of Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $179,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 620.0% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 72 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 650.0% in the 3rd quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 75 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 65.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $359.92 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $340.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $346.65. General Dynamics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $275.49 and a fifty-two week high of $369.70. The company has a market capitalization of $97.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 1.8%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen raised General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total transaction 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 $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.