Premier Fund Managers Ltd Sells 4,640 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Premier Fund Managers Ltd trimmed its stake in General Dynamics by 13.1%, selling 4,640 shares and leaving it with 30,754 shares valued at about $10.44 million.
• General Dynamics beat expectations for the quarter, reporting EPS of $4.10 versus $3.67 expected and revenue of $13.48 billion, up 10.3% year-over-year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.59 (annualized $6.36, yield 1.8%), and analysts hold a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a $388.70 average target price.

Premier Fund Managers Ltd trimmed its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,754 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 4,640 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $10,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GD. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its position in General Dynamics by 453.3% in the 3rd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 9,418 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,212,000 after purchasing an additional 7,716 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 703.4% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,548 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,597,000 after purchasing an additional 9,235 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.6% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 917,424 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $312,842,000 after buying an additional 32,262 shares in the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 73.5% in the third quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,700 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,649,000 after buying an additional 4,532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $8,338,169,000 after buying an additional 528,769 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $398.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $389.00 to $380.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. 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 research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $388.70.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $347.54 on Thursday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52-week low of $267.39 and a 52-week high of $369.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market cap of $93.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $345.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $346.57.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The company had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.66 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.56 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $1.59 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 40.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total value of $11,655,934.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $271,394,759.13. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 10,153 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.95, for a total transaction of $3,603,807.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,834,176.25. The trade was a 20.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 51,260 shares of company stock worth $18,133,971. Company 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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