Legal & General Group Plc Sells 56,341 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,070,722 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 56,341 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $360,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Joule Financial LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Joule Financial LLC now owns 705 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,889 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,993,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.6% during the third quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 1,196 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 65.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 978 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $345.02 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $341.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $346.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $268.10 and a 1-year high of $369.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The business had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.03%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total transaction of $11,655,934.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 766,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $271,394,759.13. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total transaction of $12,596,179.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. This trade represents a 48.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 119,600 shares of company stock worth $41,650,580. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.40.

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.