Terra Nova Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

Terra Nova Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 14.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 895 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 149 shares during the quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 34,578.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,244,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $339,253,000 after buying an additional 1,241,011 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $279,582,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $197,238,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,265,813,000 after acquiring an additional 706,317 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in General Dynamics by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,774,381,000 after acquiring an additional 463,497 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on GD shares. TD Cowen increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price target on General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus set a $295.00 price target on General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.28.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $286.07 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $275.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.76. The company has a market capitalization of $76.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.46. General Dynamics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $239.20 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.82% and a net margin of 8.08%. General Dynamics’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 7,639 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.44, for a total value of $2,142,281.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 769,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $215,828,587.08. The trade was a 0.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Company 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.