Prudential PLC Reduces Holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

Prudential PLC trimmed its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 39.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,176 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 7,400 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 90,747 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $23,911,000 after buying an additional 28,696 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,380 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $627,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $209,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD opened at $316.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.48. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $239.20 and a 1-year high of $322.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $298.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $276.77.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GD. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $314.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $315.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 33,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.20, for a total value of $10,634,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,244,518.40. This represents a 42.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 7,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.44, for a total value of $2,142,281.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 769,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $215,828,587.08. This represents a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 302,110 shares of company stock worth $89,042,859 over the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.