Principle Wealth Partners LLC Sells 324 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Principle Wealth Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,693 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 324 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $8,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 11.5% during the first quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 16,522 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,504,000 after buying an additional 1,704 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 63,228 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $16,741,000 after buying an additional 915 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 18.1% during the first quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 31,620 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,619,000 after buying an additional 4,836 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 31.3% during the first quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,598 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after buying an additional 1,333 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 43,885 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 4th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $309.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $348.00 to $368.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $327.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, VP William A. Moss sold 17,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.40, for a total value of $5,600,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 16,627 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,260,782.80. This represents a 51.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 33,740 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.20, for a total value of $10,634,848.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,244,518.40. This trade represents a 42.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 275,020 shares of company stock valued at $86,414,503 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of GD opened at $338.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $90.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $328.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $300.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1 year low of $239.20 and a 1 year high of $347.37.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $13.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.13 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 8.13%.General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.27%.

About General Dynamics

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.