Hancock Whitney Corp Lowers Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Hancock Whitney Corp reduced its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 7.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,742 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,782,612 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,351,041,000 after acquiring an additional 115,063 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,081,488,000 after buying an additional 147,800 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $728,284,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in General Dynamics by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,757 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $592,764,000 after buying an additional 24,395 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,372,311 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $356,348,000 after buying an additional 40,689 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD stock traded down $5.89 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $292.82. The stock had a trading volume of 536,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,071,998. The company has a market cap of $80.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $292.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $283.25. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $214.53 and a 12-month high of $302.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.30 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 7.89%. The company had revenue of $11.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $345.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $312.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 2,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.00, for a total transaction of $740,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,589,184. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other General Dynamics news, VP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 6,016 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.58, for a total value of $1,784,225.28. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 76,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,605,624.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 2,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.00, for a total value of $740,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,589,184. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,069 shares of company stock worth $16,295,101 over the last 90 days. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.