General Dynamics Corporation $GD Shares Sold by Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.

Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. reduced its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 43.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,492 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 7,936 shares during the quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,338,169,000 after acquiring an additional 528,769 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,323,170 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,812,058,000 after purchasing an additional 294,456 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,065,462 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,039,742,000 after purchasing an additional 195,604 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,307,389 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,786,786,000 after purchasing an additional 114,647 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,443,453 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,159,273,000 after purchasing an additional 110,536 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:GD opened at $368.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $99.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $293.95 and a one year high of $380.71. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $352.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $350.36.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.66 earnings per share. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,000,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,884,695. The trade was a 33.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. The trade was a 48.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 78,190 shares of company stock valued at $27,041,022. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on GD. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on General Dynamics from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $391.15.

General Dynamics 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.