General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) EVP Mark Lagrand Burns Sells 36,230 Shares

Key Points

• General Dynamics EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,230 shares on May 11 at an average price of $343.49, totaling about $12.4 million. After the sale, he still held 38,975 shares, a 48.17% reduction in his position.
• The executive also sold another 36,480 shares on May 12 and 10,153 shares on March 11, signaling a pattern of recent insider selling.
• Despite the insider sales, General Dynamics recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, and it raised its dividend to $1.59 per share from $1.50, implying a $6.36 annualized payout and a 1.9% yield.

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,230 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.49, for a total value of $12,444,642.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,387,522.75. This represents a 48.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Mark Lagrand Burns also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, May 12th, Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of General Dynamics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20.
• On Wednesday, March 11th, Mark Lagrand Burns sold 10,153 shares of General Dynamics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.95, for a total value of $3,603,807.35.

General Dynamics Price Performance

General Dynamics stock traded down $4.69 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $341.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 507,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,437,855. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52 week low of $267.39 and a 52 week high of $369.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $345.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $346.83. The stock has a market cap of $92.42 billion, a PE ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on GD. UBS Group dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $371.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $385.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $388.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 453.3% during the third quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 9,418 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,212,000 after buying an additional 7,716 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 703.4% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,548 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,597,000 after buying an additional 9,235 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.6% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 917,424 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $312,842,000 after buying an additional 32,262 shares during the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in General Dynamics by 73.5% during the third quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,700 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,649,000 after acquiring an additional 4,532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in General Dynamics by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $8,338,169,000 after acquiring an additional 528,769 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About General Dynamics

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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