General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos Sells 13,567 Shares

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $287.09. The company had a trading volume of 1,422,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,113,738. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $281.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $262.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $78.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.68. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $202.35 and a twelve month high of $296.50.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on GD. UBS Group increased their target price on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Argus increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.06.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

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

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.