Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 299,833 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Hsbc Holdings PLC trimmed its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 30.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 684,029 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 299,833 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $234,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Joule Financial LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Joule Financial LLC now owns 705 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,889 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,993,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Steph & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 65.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted 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 worth $329,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 733 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In related news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. The trade was a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,000,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,643 shares in the company, valued at $3,884,695. This trade represents a 33.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 78,190 shares of company stock valued at $27,041,022 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD opened at $368.91 on Friday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52-week low of $293.95 and a 52-week high of $380.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.76 billion, a PE ratio of 23.22, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.34. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $352.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $350.49.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The business’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.66 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on General Dynamics from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $400.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $391.15.

About General Dynamics

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.