General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) CEO Sells $14,182,325.00 in Stock

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total value of $14,182,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,773,956.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:GD traded down $0.70 on Tuesday, reaching $287.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,422,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,113,738. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $281.23 and a 200 day moving average of $262.41. The stock has a market cap of $78.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.68. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $202.35 and a 12-month high of $296.50.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $1.42 dividend. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Argus upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.06.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in General Dynamics by 99.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 29,045 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,542,000 after acquiring an additional 14,468 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $16,077,000. Clough Capital Partners L P acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,868,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics by 57.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 326,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $72,063,000 after buying an additional 119,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 262.5% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,229 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,032,000 after buying an additional 16,821 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

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.