Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Acquires 244,373 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 174.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 384,151 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 244,373 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 0.14% of General Dynamics worth $111,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in General Dynamics by 3,645.4% during the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 558,586 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $145,048,000 after buying an additional 543,672 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in General Dynamics by 879.9% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 340,359 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $96,148,000 after purchasing an additional 305,624 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,639,758 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,216,599,000 after buying an additional 293,316 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 24.2% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,347,247 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $391,119,000 after purchasing an additional 262,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $43,733,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on GD. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley raised General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $293.00 to $345.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $345.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $315.06.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other 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 transaction of $406,626.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $306.87 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $214.53 and a 52 week high of $309.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $84.19 billion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is $294.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.97.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.30 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $11.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.46 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 7.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

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.