Insider Selling: General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) CEO Sells 49,850 Shares of Stock

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total value of $14,182,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,773,956.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE:GD traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $287.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,422,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,113,738. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $281.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $262.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.68. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $202.35 and a one year high of $296.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.44.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced 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 company had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on GD. StockNews.com upgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. 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, UBS Group lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $297.06.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $728,284,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 12.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,615,185,000 after buying an additional 1,755,276 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 10,763.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 923,593 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $239,829,000 after buying an additional 915,091 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the first quarter valued at approximately $179,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 3,645.4% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 558,586 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $145,048,000 after purchasing an additional 543,672 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.