General Dynamics Corporation $GD Shares Acquired by Birch Financial Group LLC

Birch Financial Group LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 115.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,202 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,535 shares during the quarter. General Dynamics accounts for about 2.5% of Birch Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Birch Financial Group LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $4,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 3,306.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 871,052 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $297,029,000 after acquiring an additional 845,482 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 25.2% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,439,720 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,003,444,000 after purchasing an additional 691,340 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 142.5% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 438,311 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $127,838,000 after purchasing an additional 257,534 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 43.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 762,168 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $222,294,000 after purchasing an additional 229,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $66,599,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity 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 shares were sold at an average price of $334.92, for a total transaction of $6,818,971.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GD. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $293.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on General Dynamics from $381.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on General Dynamics from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $385.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.70.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.6%

General Dynamics stock opened at $363.60 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $346.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $332.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $239.20 and a 1-year high of $369.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.41.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $12.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.49 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 18.27% and a net margin of 8.18%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.35 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.89%.

About General Dynamics

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.