Moors & Cabot Inc. Decreases Stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

Key Points

• Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its position in General Dynamics Corporation by 33.5%, selling 2,327 shares during the first quarter, leaving them with 4,610 shares valued at approximately $1,256,000.
• General Dynamics reported earnings of $3.74 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations by $0.27, and achieved a revenue of $13.04 billion in the last quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, set to be paid to stockholders, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%.

Moors & Cabot Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 33.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,610 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 2,327 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 34,578.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,244,600 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $339,253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241,011 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $279,582,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in General Dynamics by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,774,381,000 after purchasing an additional 463,497 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 6,387.2% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 401,236 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $105,722,000 after purchasing an additional 395,051 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,290,344 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $339,856,000 after purchasing an additional 252,107 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other 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 transaction of $1,717,326.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,483 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,715,137.23. This trade represents a 50.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 43,860 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.28, for a total value of $13,696,600.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,452,165. This represents a 52.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 268,370 shares of company stock worth $78,408,011. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on GD shares. Susquehanna increased 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. Argus set a $295.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $283.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. TD Cowen increased their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $325.00 price target on General Dynamics and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $315.78.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of GD traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $313.19. The stock had a trading volume of 43,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,475,874. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12 month low of $239.20 and a 12 month high of $322.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $291.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $274.29. 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 company has a market capitalization of $84.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.48.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.27. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 8.13%. The business had revenue of $13.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.13 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.26 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.27%.

General Dynamics Company 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.