New York State Common Retirement Fund Trims Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 466,120 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 24,833 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.17% of General Dynamics worth $121,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,615,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,276 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 10,763.2% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 923,593 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $239,829,000 after purchasing an additional 915,091 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in General Dynamics by 55.2% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 806,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $178,304,000 after acquiring an additional 286,928 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,293,269 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $506,744,000 after purchasing an additional 275,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 12.7% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,763,878 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $392,110,000 after purchasing an additional 198,185 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on GD. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays upped their target price on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD traded up $2.68 on Tuesday, hitting $293.99. The company had a trading volume of 252,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,055,948. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $202.35 and a 1-year high of $296.50. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $279.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $260.57. The stock has a market cap of $80.66 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.68 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The business had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. 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.