California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 912,166 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 6,802 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.33% of General Dynamics worth $240,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,689 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $607,000. Hickory Point Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $692,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 261,992 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $69,032,000 after purchasing an additional 107,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $550,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
GD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $300.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Baird R W lowered shares of General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. William Blair lowered General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $298.59.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on GD
Insider Activity
In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.
General Dynamics Trading Down 1.9 %
Shares of NYSE GD traded down $5.20 during trading on Thursday, hitting $270.84. 778,546 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,313,662. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $259.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $276.19. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90.
General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.
General Dynamics Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 43.99%.
General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
About General Dynamics
(
Free Report)
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.
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