Conning Inc. Lowers Position in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Conning Inc. reduced its General Dynamics stake by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 4,137 shares and leaving it with 98,343 shares valued at about $33.1 million.
• General Dynamics reported stronger-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of $4.10 versus the $3.67 consensus and revenue of $13.48 billion, up 10.3% year over year.
• The company also received a major Navy contract win worth up to $2.31 billion for Virginia-class Block VI submarines, while raising its quarterly dividend to $1.59 per share.

Conning Inc. trimmed its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,343 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 4,137 shares during the period. Conning Inc.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $33,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GD. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 453.3% during the third quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 9,418 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,212,000 after acquiring an additional 7,716 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 703.4% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,548 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,597,000 after purchasing an additional 9,235 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.6% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 917,424 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $312,842,000 after purchasing an additional 32,262 shares during the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 73.5% in the 3rd quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,700 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,649,000 after purchasing an additional 4,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $8,338,169,000 after buying an additional 528,769 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 3,819 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.50, for a total transaction of $1,350,016.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 44,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,825,134.50. This represents a 7.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at $13,457,677.75. This trade represents a 48.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 119,600 shares of company stock worth $41,650,580 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key General Dynamics News

Here are the key news stories impacting General Dynamics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: General Dynamics secured a U.S. Navy contract modification worth up to $2.31 billion for Virginia-class Block VI submarines, extending submarine-related work through 2035 and reinforcing the strength of its marine systems backlog. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: GDIT announced a new partnership with NightDragon to accelerate U.S. government adoption of AI, cybersecurity and autonomy solutions, which could support future federal IT and secure-tech growth. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $385.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $388.20.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD opened at $340.22 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $344.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $346.76. The firm has a market cap of $92.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $268.10 and a 1-year high of $369.70.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released 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 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 the consensus estimate of $12.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.66 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were given a $1.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 40.03%.

General Dynamics 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.

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