Truist Financial Corp Trims Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Truist Financial Corp reduced its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 298,464 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 9,237 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.11% of General Dynamics worth $78,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 40,389.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $416,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,065 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in General Dynamics by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after acquiring an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 117.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $259,469,000 after acquiring an additional 463,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $284,818,000 after purchasing an additional 283,972 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Baird R W downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $283.00 price target (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $298.59.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD traded down $3.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $243.02. 1,947,405 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,735,765. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $259.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $282.54.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. On average, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics 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.