General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) EVP Mark Lagrand Burns Sells 36,480 Shares

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total transaction of $12,596,179.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Mark Lagrand Burns also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, May 11th, Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,230 shares of General Dynamics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.49, for a total transaction of $12,444,642.70.
• On Wednesday, March 11th, Mark Lagrand Burns sold 10,153 shares of General Dynamics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.95, for a total transaction of $3,603,807.35.

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.5%

GD stock opened at $341.31 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $92.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52 week low of $267.39 and a 52 week high of $369.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $344.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $346.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The business had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were given a $1.59 dividend. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GD shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and issued a $420.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. TD Cowen raised their price target on General Dynamics from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $389.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.20.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,338,169,000 after buying an additional 528,769 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,323,170 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,812,058,000 after buying an additional 294,456 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,065,462 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,039,742,000 after buying an additional 195,604 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,307,389 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,786,786,000 after buying an additional 114,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,627,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,236,900,000 after purchasing an additional 187,435 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about General Dynamics

Here are the key news stories impacting General Dynamics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) announced a new partnership with NightDragon to accelerate U.S. government adoption of emerging AI and cybersecurity technologies, which could support future federal contract growth and reinforce the company’s positioning in secure-tech markets. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Two separate filings showed EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold a combined 72,710 shares on May 11 and May 12 at prices around $343 to $345 per share. Insider selling can weigh on sentiment, but the trades do not necessarily indicate a change in the company’s fundamentals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary around the GDIT-NightDragon deal noted that General Dynamics shares fell after the announcement, suggesting investors may be treating the news as incremental rather than a near-term catalyst. Article Title

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.