Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Decreases Holdings in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Marks Group Wealth Management cut its General Dynamics stake by 19.4% in the first quarter, selling 4,907 shares and ending with 20,397 shares valued at about $7.0 million.
• Several analysts remain constructive on GD, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $391.15, even as some firms trimmed their targets.
• General Dynamics reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.59 per share, implying a 1.7% yield.

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 19.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,397 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 4,907 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $7,001,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $8,338,169,000 after acquiring an additional 528,769 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,323,170 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,812,058,000 after purchasing an additional 294,456 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,065,462 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,039,742,000 after purchasing an additional 195,604 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,307,389 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,786,786,000 after purchasing an additional 114,647 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,443,453 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,159,273,000 after purchasing an additional 110,536 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on GD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup cut their price target on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded General Dynamics from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $391.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total transaction of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. The trade was a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,000,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,643 shares in the company, valued at $3,884,695. This trade represents a 33.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 78,190 shares of company stock worth $27,041,022. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of GD stock opened at $365.53 on Thursday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $351.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $350.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.90. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1 year low of $293.95 and a 1 year high of $380.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.66 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.64 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics's payout ratio is presently 40.03%.

General Dynamics 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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