General Dynamics Corporation $GD Shares Sold by LongView Asset Management LLC

LongView Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,307,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 727,012 shares during the period. General Dynamics makes up approximately 6,493.5% of LongView Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. LongView Asset Management LLC owned about 0.10% of General Dynamics worth $9,311,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $7,914,000. MQS Management LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 3,630 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Associated Banc Corp boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 1,326 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. CFO4Life Group LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $442,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,497,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GD. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut General Dynamics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.40.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $343.20 on Friday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $268.10 and a 1-year high of $369.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $341.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $346.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.66 earnings per share. The firm’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 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 40.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total transaction of $11,655,934.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $271,394,759.13. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at $13,457,677.75. This trade represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 119,600 shares of company stock valued at $41,650,580. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.