General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in General Dynamics Corporation by 5.4%, now holding approximately 326,148 shares valued at $88.9 million.
• Several analysts have altered their price targets for General Dynamics, with Morgan Stanley lowering it to $300, while Deutsche Bank increased it to $342.
• General Dynamics announced a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.9%, to be paid on November 14th.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 326,148 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 18,614 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.12% of General Dynamics worth $88,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,476 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $694,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 1,832 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $300,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD traded down $2.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $313.70. The company had a trading volume of 900,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,455,223. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.36. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $239.20 and a 1-year high of $322.50. The company has a market cap of $84.38 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of $298.01 and a 200-day moving average of $276.77.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.27. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The business had revenue of $13.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.26 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 5,490 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.81, for a total transaction of $1,717,326.90. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,483 shares in the company, valued at $1,715,137.23. The trade was a 50.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 7,639 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.44, for a total value of $2,142,281.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 769,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $215,828,587.08. This trade represents a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 302,110 shares of company stock valued at $89,042,859 over the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $360.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $309.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $283.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, TD Securities increased their target price on General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $315.78.

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.