Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 102,605 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 28,591 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $34,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3,306.5% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 871,052 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $297,029,000 after buying an additional 845,482 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,439,720 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,003,444,000 after acquiring an additional 691,340 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 142.5% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 438,311 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $127,838,000 after acquiring an additional 257,534 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 43.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 762,168 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $222,294,000 after acquiring an additional 229,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $66,599,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $335.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $371.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $358.50.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $352.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $95.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.41. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12 month low of $239.20 and a 12 month high of $367.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $342.14 and its 200 day moving average is $327.21.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $12.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.49 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 18.27% and a net margin of 8.18%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.35 earnings per share. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.300-15.35 EPS. Research analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, VP David Paddock sold 20,360 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.92, for a total transaction of $6,818,971.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 36,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,272,808.48. This trade represents a 35.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting General Dynamics

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

• Positive Sentiment: Sector rally from proposed big defense-spending boost lifted demand for contractors, helping GD outperformance; headlines cited proposals ranging from large incremental funding to multi‑year increases that drive revenue visibility for prime contractors. Aerospace, defense stocks surge
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and modest upward revisions to GD’s EPS outlook (Zacks raised near-term and FY estimates) support higher earnings expectations and justify part of today’s buying interest. MarketBeat GD page
• Positive Sentiment: Concrete contract wins: GDIT (a GD unit) landed a ~$131M USAF network upgrade task order, adding near-term revenue and backlog that investors reward. GDIT wins $131m task order
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/market commentary (features and deep-dive pieces) highlights GD’s long-term alignment with defense spending trends; useful for conviction but not an immediate catalytic event. Seeking Alpha analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Political risk: an executive order and public statements from the administration restricting dividends and stock buybacks for defense contractors until production/performance improves remain a material headwind — these policies could limit GD’s capital-return flexibility and reduce shareholder-friendly actions. Trump signs order blocking buybacks
• Negative Sentiment: Volatility risk from administration pressure and public singling‑out of contractors can trigger intra-day swings; that political uncertainty tempers the rally’s durability despite favorable spending news. CNBC on Trump comments

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.