Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 28,591 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 102,605 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,591 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $34,988,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 3,306.5% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 871,052 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $297,029,000 after purchasing an additional 845,482 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 25.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,439,720 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,003,444,000 after buying an additional 691,340 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 142.5% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 438,311 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $127,838,000 after buying an additional 257,534 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 43.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 762,168 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $222,294,000 after acquiring an additional 229,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at about $66,599,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, VP David Paddock sold 20,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.92, for a total value of $6,818,971.20. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 36,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,272,808.48. The trade was a 35.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Key General Dynamics News

Here are the key news stories impacting General Dynamics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sector rally from proposed big defense-spending boost lifted demand for contractors, helping GD outperformance; headlines cited proposals ranging from large incremental funding to multi‑year increases that drive revenue visibility for prime contractors. Aerospace, defense stocks surge
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and modest upward revisions to GD’s EPS outlook (Zacks raised near-term and FY estimates) support higher earnings expectations and justify part of today’s buying interest. MarketBeat GD page
• Positive Sentiment: Concrete contract wins: GDIT (a GD unit) landed a ~$131M USAF network upgrade task order, adding near-term revenue and backlog that investors reward. GDIT wins $131m task order
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/market commentary (features and deep-dive pieces) highlights GD’s long-term alignment with defense spending trends; useful for conviction but not an immediate catalytic event. Seeking Alpha analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Political risk: an executive order and public statements from the administration restricting dividends and stock buybacks for defense contractors until production/performance improves remain a material headwind — these policies could limit GD’s capital-return flexibility and reduce shareholder-friendly actions. Trump signs order blocking buybacks
• Negative Sentiment: Volatility risk from administration pressure and public singling‑out of contractors can trigger intra-day swings; that political uncertainty tempers the rally’s durability despite favorable spending news. CNBC on Trump comments

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $352.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $95.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.41. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1 year low of $239.20 and a 1 year high of $367.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $342.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $327.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.19. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 18.27%. The company had revenue of $12.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.35 EPS. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.300-15.35 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 6th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $365.00 to $406.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $371.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $358.50.

General Dynamics Company Profile

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.