General Dynamics Corporation $GD Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its General Dynamics stake by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 58,954 shares and ending with 520,431 shares valued at about $175.2 million.
• Insider selling has been notable, with CEO Phebe Novakovic and EVP Mark Lagrand Burns among those selling shares; insiders sold a total of 119,600 shares worth $41.7 million over the last 90 days.
• General Dynamics reported stronger-than-expected results and raised its dividend, posting $4.10 EPS on $13.48 billion in revenue, while increasing its quarterly dividend to $1.59 per share from $1.50.

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 520,431 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 58,954 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.19% of General Dynamics worth $175,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its position in General Dynamics by 453.3% in the 3rd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 9,418 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,212,000 after buying an additional 7,716 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 703.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,548 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,597,000 after buying an additional 9,235 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $8,338,169,000 after buying an additional 528,769 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 917,424 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $312,842,000 after buying an additional 32,262 shares during the period. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 114.7% in the 3rd quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,124 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,088,000 after buying an additional 3,271 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total value of $11,655,934.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total transaction of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares of the company's stock, 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 sold a total of 119,600 shares of company stock valued at $41,650,580 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on GD shares. Argus raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $387.40.

General Dynamics Price Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $343.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $92.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $343.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $346.60. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12-month low of $268.10 and a 12-month high of $369.70. 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 (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.66 EPS. Equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

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

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.

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