The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Lowers Stake in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company has reduced its stake in General Dynamics Corporation by 0.8%, now holding 540,595 shares valued at approximately $147.36 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have adjusted their holdings in General Dynamics, with Brighton Jones LLC increasing its position by 16.9% in the fourth quarter.
• General Dynamics declared a quarterly dividend of $1.50 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.8%, payable on November 14th.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 540,595 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 4,548 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.20% of General Dynamics worth $147,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 4.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,502,305 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,499,819,000 after purchasing an additional 256,687 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in General Dynamics by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,935,046 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $773,355,000 after purchasing an additional 145,978 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 34.8% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,748,380 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $749,252,000 after buying an additional 709,782 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,582,388 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $431,327,000 after acquiring an additional 5,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,296,497 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $353,558,000 after acquiring an additional 94,537 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD stock traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $324.10. The stock had a trading volume of 874,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,412,706. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $307.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $282.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $239.20 and a one year high of $326.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.50.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. 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 payout ratio is 40.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GD. UBS Group increased their target price on General Dynamics from $309.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $325.00 target price on General Dynamics and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. 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. TD Cowen lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $348.00 to $368.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $315.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total transaction of $50,629,589.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 769,607 shares in the company, valued at $217,898,829.91. The trade was a 18.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 33,740 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.20, for a total value of $10,634,848.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 45,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,244,518.40. This trade represents a 42.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 458,260 shares of company stock valued at $138,125,545. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.