Bessemer Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 30.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,319 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,939 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 140.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $938,000 after acquiring an additional 2,011 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 2nd quarter valued at $352,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,284,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD opened at $367.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $99.36 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $353.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $351.00. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $293.95 and a 1-year high of $380.71.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.64 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $1.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GD. Bank of America boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen raised General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 13th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $391.15.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. The trade was a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,643 shares in the company, valued at $3,884,695. The trade was a 33.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 78,190 shares of company stock valued at $27,041,022. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.