Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 20,652 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Los Angeles Capital Management cut its General Dynamics stake by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 20,652 shares and leaving it with 532,298 shares worth about $183.5 million.
• General Dynamics recently beat first-quarter expectations, reporting EPS of $4.10 versus $3.67 expected and revenue of $13.48 billion versus $12.70 billion forecast, while revenue rose 10.3% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.59 per share, payable on August 7, implying an annualized dividend of $6.36 and a yield of about 1.8%.

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 532,298 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 20,652 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.20% of General Dynamics worth $183,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 620.0% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 72 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Dagco Inc. bought a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 650.0% during the 3rd quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 75 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 65.2% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $371.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $387.40.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $346.43 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $340.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $346.31. The company has a market cap of $93.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.80, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.34. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $268.10 and a fifty-two week high of $369.70.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The company's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 3,819 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.50, for a total transaction of $1,350,016.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,767 shares in the company, valued at $15,825,134.50. This trade represents a 7.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at $13,457,677.75. This trade represents a 48.35% decrease in their position. 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 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

About General Dynamics

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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