Virtu Financial LLC Buys 8,362 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Virtu Financial LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 187.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,821 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,362 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% in the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 293,316 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,782,612 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,351,041,000 after acquiring an additional 115,063 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,081,488,000 after purchasing an additional 147,800 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $728,284,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in General Dynamics by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,757 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $592,764,000 after purchasing an additional 24,395 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $345.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $345.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $315.06.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD opened at $307.56 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $84.38 billion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $214.53 and a 52-week high of $309.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $293.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $290.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.30 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $11.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.52 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

General Dynamics 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.