Arizona State Retirement System Boosts Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,091 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 224 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $17,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GD. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 worth $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 463,000 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 43.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $284,818,000 after purchasing an additional 283,972 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after purchasing an additional 189,904 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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 directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Up 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $262.94 on Thursday. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $257.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $280.27.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics declared that its board has approved 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 purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GD. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. BTIG Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $276.00 to $244.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.71.

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.