Independent Advisor Alliance Trims Stock Position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

Key Points

• Independent Advisor Alliance has reduced its stake in General Dynamics by 9.9%, selling 2,398 shares to hold a total of 21,930 shares valued at approximately $5,978,000.
• General Dynamics received mixed ratings from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target of $315.78, while some firms have established buy ratings with targets ranging from $300 to $342.
• The company reported strong earnings, exceeding estimates by posting $3.74 earnings per share and revenues of $13.04 billion in the last quarter, which was an 8.9% increase year-over-year.

Independent Advisor Alliance decreased its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 9.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,930 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 2,398 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $5,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. CCM Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,980,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the first quarter valued at $272,464,000. Cooper Financial Group boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 7.9% in the first quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 1,358 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.6% in the first quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,013 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,912,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 16.9% in the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 29,479 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $8,035,000 after purchasing an additional 4,267 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $314.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Susquehanna raised their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group set a $325.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $360.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $284.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $315.78.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of GD traded down $1.39 during trading on Thursday, reaching $316.10. 843,104 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,458,822. General Dynamics Corporation has a twelve month low of $239.20 and a twelve month high of $322.50. The stock has a market cap of $85.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $297.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $276.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $13.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.13 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 40.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 43,860 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,875 shares in the company, valued at $12,452,165. The trade was a 52.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 5,490 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 302,110 shares of company stock worth $89,042,859. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.