Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Cuts Stake in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS reduced its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,973 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,655 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $19,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 620.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 72 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 650.0% in the 3rd quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 75 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 65.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total value of $11,655,934.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $271,394,759.13. This represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total transaction of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. The trade was a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 119,600 shares of company stock valued at $41,650,580. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Argus boosted their price objective on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $387.40.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $346.47 on Monday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52-week low of $268.10 and a 52-week high of $369.70. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $340.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $346.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.38.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The business had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a $1.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 40.03%.

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.