General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) Stake Cut by Kennondale Capital Management LLC

Kennondale Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 37.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,659 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 1,621 shares during the quarter. Kennondale Capital Management LLC's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 34,578.2% in 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 last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $279,582,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in General Dynamics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,265,813,000 after purchasing an additional 706,317 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in General Dynamics by 7.4% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 6,387.2% in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total transaction of $50,629,589.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 769,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $217,898,829.91. This represents a 18.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $360.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $325.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $312.17.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE:GD traded down $2.71 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $314.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,114,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,495,526. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $239.20 and a 1-year high of $322.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $286.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.39. The company has a market cap of $84.34 billion, a PE ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.46.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.13 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.82% and a net margin of 8.08%. The business's revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.26 EPS. Analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.61%.

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.