General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by Equitable Trust Co.

Key Points

• Equitable Trust Co. significantly reduced its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation by 86.3%, selling 11,905 shares and leaving it with just 1,891 shares valued at $515,000.
• In contrast, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake by over 34,578%, owning 1,244,600 shares valued at $339.25 million after purchasing 1,241,011 shares.
• General Dynamics reported $3.74 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and showing an 8.9% revenue increase year-over-year, with a market capitalization of $84.44 billion.

Equitable Trust Co. trimmed its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 86.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,891 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 11,905 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,774,381,000 after acquiring an additional 463,497 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,688,672 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,496,939,000 after acquiring an additional 131,268 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,212,422 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,109,931,000 after acquiring an additional 33,962 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in General Dynamics by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,935,046 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $773,355,000 after buying an additional 145,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in General Dynamics by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,606,137 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $686,691,000 after buying an additional 103,870 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.5%

General Dynamics stock traded down $1.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $313.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 180,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,483,840. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.20 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.46. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1 year low of $239.20 and a 1 year high of $322.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock's fifty day moving average is $288.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $272.97.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.27. The company 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.27%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 5,490 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.81, for a total value of $1,717,326.90. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,483 shares in the company, valued at $1,715,137.23. This trade represents a 50.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total value of $50,629,589.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 769,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $217,898,829.91. This represents a 18.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 268,370 shares of company stock worth $78,408,011. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $325.00 target price on General Dynamics and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wolfe Research raised General Dynamics from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $360.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on General Dynamics from $348.00 to $368.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $315.78.

General Dynamics 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.