First Trust Advisors LP Sells 101,166 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 10.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 830,552 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 101,166 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $242,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 10.4% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 463,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $126,454,000 after acquiring an additional 43,885 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.5% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 286,456 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $83,548,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 52.4% during the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,181 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,678,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 299,137 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $87,246,000 after purchasing an additional 51,655 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Coast Investments LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 2nd quarter worth $218,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark Malcolm sold 3,220 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.45, for a total value of $1,060,829.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,355,777.70. This represents a 24.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE GD opened at $340.86 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $341.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $316.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $92.07 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.40. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week high of $360.50.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $12.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.49 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 18.27%. General Dynamics’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.35 earnings per share. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.300-15.35 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on GD shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $385.00 price objective on General Dynamics in a report on Monday, October 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $280.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $335.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $358.10.

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.