California Public Employees Retirement System Purchases 136,495 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 943,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 136,495 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $244,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 411.5% in the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 133 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.80.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total transaction of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at $39,502,023.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE GD traded up $2.26 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $293.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 98,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,053,664. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $202.35 and a 1 year high of $296.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $279.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $260.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.68.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 7.84%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

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.