Equitable Trust Co. Increases Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Equitable Trust Co. grew its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 2,069.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,817 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,042 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $4,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Eudaimonia Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $1,056,000. Gladstone Capital Management LLP acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,869,000. SWP Financial LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,107,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of General Dynamics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $345.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. 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. BTIG Research initiated coverage on General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a "buy" rating and a $345.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $315.06.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD traded up $1.53 on Friday, reaching $299.36. The company had a trading volume of 1,033,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 947,283. The company's fifty day moving average is $290.64 and its 200 day moving average is $288.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market cap of $82.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.60. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $214.53 and a fifty-two week high of $302.75.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.30 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $11.98 billion during 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%. General Dynamics's revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.70 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 is Friday, October 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. General Dynamics's payout ratio is presently 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.