Wealthfront Advisers LLC Makes New $10.57 Million Investment in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 29,847 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,573,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the fourth 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. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 63,781 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,914,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 939,264 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $316,213,000 after acquiring an additional 102,208 shares during the period. Finally, Rayburn West Financial Services LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,387,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 51,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $382.58, for a total value of $19,728,885.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 766,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $293,231,119.06. The trade was a 6.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 43,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.04, for a total transaction of $16,323,767.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,767 shares in the company, valued at $16,923,716.68. This trade represents a 49.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 100,228 shares of company stock worth $38,052,853. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GD. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $421.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of General Dynamics from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $435.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $410.89.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $392.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.44. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52 week low of $306.77 and a 52 week high of $400.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $373.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $355.37. The company has a market capitalization of $106.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.28. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $14.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. General Dynamics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.800-16.900 EPS. On average, analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.80%.

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.