Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 14.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 131,130 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 16,998 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $37,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GD. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares in the company, valued at $218,773,956.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total value of $3,914,215.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total value of $14,182,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,486 shares of company stock valued at $34,391,642 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on GD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $300.63.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD opened at $298.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.76 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50-day moving average is $292.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.78. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $209.25 and a 1 year high of $302.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.64 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.33%.

General Dynamics Profile

General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, charter, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.