General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS reduced its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,871 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 1,266 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $14,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after acquiring an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $197,238,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,674,998,000 after buying an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 117.0% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $259,469,000 after buying an additional 463,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $284,818,000 after purchasing an additional 283,972 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. BTIG Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $297.71.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded up $1.73 on Tuesday, reaching $267.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 911,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,249,400. 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 52-week low of $239.87 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The company has a market capitalization of $72.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.62, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $258.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $277.45.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its 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%. Analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. This is a boost from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics's payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Company 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.