Northern Trust Corp Cuts Stock Position in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp sold 47,665 shares of General Dynamics, reducing its stake by 1.8%, and now owns approximately 2.56 million shares valued at $697.4 million.
• General Dynamics has reported a quarterly EPS of $3.74, surpassing expectations and indicating an 8.9% revenue increase compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company announces a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%, reflecting a payout ratio of 40.27%.

Northern Trust Corp decreased its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,558,472 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 47,665 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.95% of General Dynamics worth $697,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 76.5% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,025 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 878 shares during the period. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 42.0% during the first quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 23.8% during the first quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 14,081 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,838,000 after buying an additional 2,707 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.0% during the first quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 3,185 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $868,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 5.3% during the first quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of GD stock traded up $2.8260 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $319.3560. 917,215 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,434,751. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1 year low of $239.20 and a 1 year high of $322.50. The stock has a market cap of $85.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.43, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $301.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.78.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.27. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 8.13%.The business had revenue of $13.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.26 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.050-15.150 EPS. Research analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GD shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $314.00 price target on General Dynamics and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $284.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $309.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $348.00 to $368.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $315.78.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total value 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 $217,898,829.91. This trade represents a 18.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 5,490 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.81, for a total value of $1,717,326.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,483 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,715,137.23. The trade was a 50.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 448,900 shares of company stock valued at $135,121,890. 1.50% of the stock is 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.