Insider Selling: General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) EVP Sells 36,230 Shares of Stock

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.49, for a total value of $12,444,642.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,387,522.75. This represents a 48.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Mark Lagrand Burns also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, May 12th, Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of General Dynamics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20.
• On Wednesday, March 11th, Mark Lagrand Burns sold 10,153 shares of General Dynamics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.95, for a total value of $3,603,807.35.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD traded down $4.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $341.77. 507,774 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,437,855. The firm has a market cap of $92.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $345.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $346.83. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $267.39 and a one year high of $369.70.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on General Dynamics from $389.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $388.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 118.3% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,847 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $567,372,000 after purchasing an additional 901,679 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,136,525,000 after buying an additional 863,392 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,238,561 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,265,349,000 after purchasing an additional 677,665 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 831.1% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 737,259 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $251,405,000 after purchasing an additional 658,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 6,680.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 591,488 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $199,130,000 after buying an additional 582,765 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

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.