Wellington Management Group LLP Trims Stake in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP has reduced its stake in General Dynamics Corporation by 55.2%, holding approximately $1.01 billion worth of shares after selling 4.5 million shares in the first quarter.
• General Dynamics reported $3.74 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates by $0.27, with revenues of $13.04 billion compared to expected figures of $12.13 billion.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for General Dynamics, with Citigroup setting a new price objective of $368.00, reflecting strong confidence in the stock's potential.

Wellington Management Group LLP cut its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 55.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,718,924 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 4,587,544 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 1.39% of General Dynamics worth $1,013,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Edgar Lomax Co. VA lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. Edgar Lomax Co. VA now owns 145,169 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $39,570,000 after buying an additional 24,080 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Family Trust lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 44.1% during the 1st quarter. Alpha Family Trust now owns 1,160 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. RW Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $201,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,385 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,921,000 after buying an additional 2,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 76.5% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,025 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 878 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on GD shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $348.00 to $368.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $309.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $314.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wolfe Research raised shares of General Dynamics from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $360.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Argus set a $295.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $315.78.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock traded up $2.8260 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $319.3560. The company's stock had a trading volume of 917,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,434,751. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12-month low of $239.20 and a 12-month high of $322.50. The company has a market capitalization of $85.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.43, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $301.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.78.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $12.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.26 EPS. General Dynamics's revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.050-15.150 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total value of $50,629,589.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 769,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $217,898,829.91. The trade was a 18.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 5,490 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,483 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,715,137.23. This represents a 50.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 448,900 shares of company stock worth $135,121,890 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.