Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,979 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,955,023,000 after purchasing an additional 133,061 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,615,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,276 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,081,488,000 after purchasing an additional 147,800 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $728,284,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,757 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $592,764,000 after acquiring an additional 24,395 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GD shares. StockNews.com downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup upped their target price on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $303.24.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD stock opened at $287.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.60. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $211.94 and a 12-month high of $302.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $294.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $278.06.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share 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 net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $3,978,647.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 79,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,630,670.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other General Dynamics news, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $3,978,647.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 79,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,630,670.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 2,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.00, for a total value of $740,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,589,184. 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. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About General Dynamics

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.