Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Sells 4,755 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Harel Insurance reduced its stake in General Dynamics by 11.6%, selling 4,755 shares in Q4 and retaining 36,365 shares valued at $12.24 million.
• General Dynamics beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $4.10 versus $3.67 expected and revenue of $13.48 billion (up 10.3% YoY), and the stock carries a consensus Moderate Buy rating with a $388.70 target.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.59 ($6.36 annualized, 1.8% yield), even as insiders sold roughly 51,260 shares (about $18.13 million) over the past 90 days.

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lessened its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,365 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 4,755 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $12,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of GD stock opened at $349.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.42 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $267.39 and a fifty-two week high of $369.70. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $345.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $346.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.38.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.66 earnings per share. General Dynamics's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.56 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is 40.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 10,153 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.95, for a total transaction of $3,603,807.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,834,176.25. This trade represents a 20.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Mark Rayha sold 4,370 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.79, for a total transaction of $1,524,212.30. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 7,936 shares in the company, valued at $2,767,997.44. The trade was a 35.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 51,260 shares of company stock worth $18,133,971 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and set a $398.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on General Dynamics in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $385.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $388.70.

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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