First Trust Advisors LP Lowers Stake in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 10.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 830,552 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 101,166 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.31% of General Dynamics worth $242,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in General Dynamics by 189.5% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,273 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,797 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 3,819 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 408 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 324 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Mark Malcolm sold 3,220 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.45, for a total transaction of $1,060,829.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,186 shares in the company, valued at $3,355,777.70. The trade was a 24.02% 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. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of GD stock opened at $340.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $92.07 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.40. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1 year low of $239.20 and a 1 year high of $360.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $341.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $316.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $12.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.49 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 18.27% and a net margin of 8.18%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.35 EPS. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.300-15.35 EPS. Research analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 6th. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 38.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $369.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Bank of America raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. BNP Paribas upgraded General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $358.10.

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.