Czech National Bank Buys 9,208 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Czech National Bank raised its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,532 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,208 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $15,875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,583 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the third quarter worth $30,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 7.0% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 13,282 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,014,000 after buying an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.4% during the third quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,351 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis Capital Management increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 17.7% during the third quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 1,964 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $594,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on GD. Morgan Stanley upgraded General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $293.00 to $345.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $320.00 to $314.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $334.00 to $317.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.06.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD traded up $1.05 on Friday, reaching $300.66. The company had a trading volume of 877,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,101,439. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $214.53 and a 52-week high of $309.97. The company has a market cap of $82.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.93.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.