General Dynamics Corporation $GD Shares Sold by Earnest Partners LLC

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC has reduced its stake in General Dynamics by 3.0%, now owning approximately 0.07% of the company valued at $51.82 million after selling 5,914 shares.
• General Dynamics announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, which will be paid on November 14th, with an annualized yield of 1.8%.
• Analyst ratings for General Dynamics show nine analysts with a Buy rating and an average target price of $315.78 per share.

Earnest Partners LLC decreased its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 190,111 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 5,914 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 0.07% of General Dynamics worth $51,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rialto Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 213.8% in the 1st quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Copia Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on GD. 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. UBS Group boosted 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $298.00 to $342.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $315.78.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD stock traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $324.64. 670,140 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 877,372. The firm has a market cap of $87.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $306.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.98. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $239.20 and a 1-year high of $326.02.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $13.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.13 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The firm's revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.26 earnings per share. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.050-15.150 EPS. On average, analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total transaction of $50,629,589.73. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 769,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at $217,898,829.91. The trade was a 18.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 43,860 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.28, for a total transaction of $13,696,600.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,452,165. This trade represents a 52.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 458,260 shares of company stock valued at $138,125,545. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.