Leon Rudy F. De Sells 2,570 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Stock

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 2,570 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.00, for a total transaction of $740,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,589,184. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD opened at $296.02 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $202.35 and a twelve month high of $296.50. The company has a market capitalization of $81.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $283.60 and a 200 day moving average of $264.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.64 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GD. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 46.8% during the first quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 113 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 1,503 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,299 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $932,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Woodward Diversified Capital LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 1,727 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $300.53.

General Dynamics Company 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.