General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 285,791 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 6,396 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of General Dynamics worth $77,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Renasant Bank grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 46.8% in the 4th quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 3,258 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $858,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter worth $1,692,000. Advisory Resource Group grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 19,200 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $5,234,000 after acquiring an additional 1,276 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 990.0% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 66,557 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $17,537,000 after acquiring an additional 60,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 24,328 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,410,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 7,639 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.44, for a total transaction of $2,142,281.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 769,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $215,828,587.08. This trade represents a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $290.24.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of GD traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $294.00. 646,635 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,397,425. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company's 50 day moving average is $278.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $268.09. The company has a market capitalization of $78.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.46.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.82% and a net margin of 8.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.61%.

About General Dynamics

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.