Boston Partners Trims Position in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Boston Partners lessened its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,407,850 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 70,863 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned about 0.52% of General Dynamics worth $476,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 118.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 901,679 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 35.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,136,525,000 after buying an additional 863,392 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 2.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,238,561 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,265,349,000 after purchasing an additional 677,665 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 831.1% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 737,259 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $251,405,000 after purchasing an additional 658,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 6,680.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 591,488 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $199,130,000 after buying an additional 582,765 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD stock opened at $359.92 on Friday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52-week low of $275.49 and a 52-week high of $369.70. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $340.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $346.59. The stock has a market cap of $97.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion during 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%.General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $1.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is currently 40.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on GD shares. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on General Dynamics in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.40.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.