General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Purchased by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 174.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 384,151 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 244,373 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $111,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 2,509 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $652,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 537.3% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 9,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after acquiring an additional 8,398 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $310,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $345,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 20,380 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,292,000 after buying an additional 1,274 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.7 %

GD stock opened at $306.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $214.53 and a 52 week high of $309.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.19 billion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $294.79 and a 200 day moving average of $290.97.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $11.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.46 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.70 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $345.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised shares of General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $293.00 to $345.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays raised their target price on General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $315.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total value of $406,626.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Company 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.