Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 18,435 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Sterling Capital Management LLC sharply cut its stake in General Dynamics, selling 18,435 shares in the first quarter and leaving it with just 486 shares valued at about $167,000.
• General Dynamics reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.10 beating estimates by $0.43 and revenue of $13.48 billion topping forecasts; revenue also rose 10.3% year over year.
• The company continues to draw a generally bullish Wall Street view, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $389.15, while also paying a quarterly dividend of $1.59 per share.

Sterling Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 97.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 486 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 18,435 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 650.0% during the 3rd quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 75 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Steph & Co. raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 65.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on GD shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $389.15.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD traded down $0.79 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $376.10. 35,440 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,377,265. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $344.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $348.40. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52-week low of $293.95 and a 52-week high of $380.71. The company has a market capitalization of $101.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The company had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.66 EPS. General Dynamics's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,000,200.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,884,695. The trade was a 33.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total transaction of $12,596,179.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,457,677.75. The trade was a 48.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 78,190 shares of company stock worth $27,041,022 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Company 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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