General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Purchased by FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC

FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 9.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,904 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,955,023,000 after purchasing an additional 133,061 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 12.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,615,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,276 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,081,488,000 after purchasing an additional 147,800 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $728,284,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,757 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $592,764,000 after purchasing an additional 24,395 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock traded down $0.93 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $284.88. 656,719 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 976,308. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $294.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $278.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.44.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.64 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $305.00 to $335.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of 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 link. In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of 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 link. Also, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 118,486 shares of company stock valued at $34,391,642. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by 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.