ProShare Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

ProShare Advisors LLC cut its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 520,431 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 58,954 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $175,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GD. Joule Financial LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Joule Financial LLC now owns 705 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,889 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,993,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. First Financial Bankshares Inc grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.6% during the third quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 1,196 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. increased its position in General Dynamics by 65.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 978 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $343.25 on Tuesday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52-week low of $268.10 and a 52-week high of $369.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $343.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $346.60. The firm has a market cap of $92.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The business had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were paid 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 was Friday, April 10th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.03%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $271,394,759.13. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total transaction of $12,596,179.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. This trade represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 119,600 shares of company stock worth $41,650,580 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target 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. DA Davidson dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $371.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $387.40.

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.