Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Sells 678 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. reduced its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 11.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 678 shares during the quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 213.8% during the 1st quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Copia Wealth Management purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 7,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.44, for a total transaction of $2,142,281.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 769,607 shares in the company, valued at $215,828,587.08. The trade was a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:GD traded up $1.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $301.13. 82,625 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,396,675. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $283.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $270.29. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12-month low of $239.20 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 17.82%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $314.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $325.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $348.00 target price (up previously from $330.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $294.53.

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.