Raymond James Financial Inc. Sells 3,223 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Raymond James Financial Inc. lowered its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 745,336 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 3,223 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.28% of General Dynamics worth $203,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,502,305 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,499,819,000 after buying an additional 256,687 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,935,046 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $773,355,000 after buying an additional 145,978 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,606,137 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $686,691,000 after buying an additional 103,870 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,582,388 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $431,327,000 after buying an additional 5,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,542,745 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $406,498,000 after buying an additional 8,696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD stock opened at $313.70 on Monday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1 year low of $239.20 and a 1 year high of $322.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $298.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $277.44. The company has a market cap of $84.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.27. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 8.13%. The company had revenue of $13.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.26 EPS. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus set a $295.00 price target on General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on General Dynamics from $348.00 to $368.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $298.00 to $342.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $315.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total value of $50,629,589.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 769,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,898,829.91. This trade represents a 18.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 5,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.81, for a total value of $1,717,326.90. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,715,137.23. This represents a 50.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 302,110 shares of company stock valued at $89,042,859 in the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.