Wells Fargo & Company MN Lowers Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Wells Fargo & Company MN trimmed its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,556,696 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 37,449 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 1.69% of General Dynamics worth $1,534,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,338,169,000 after purchasing an additional 528,769 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,065,462 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,039,742,000 after purchasing an additional 195,604 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,307,389 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,786,786,000 after purchasing an additional 114,647 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,627,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,236,900,000 after purchasing an additional 187,435 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,136,525,000 after purchasing an additional 863,392 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $359.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12-month low of $275.49 and a 12-month high of $369.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $340.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $346.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly 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. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The business had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.66 EPS. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a $1.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.03%.

General Dynamics Profile

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.