Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Reduces Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 116,345 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 8,537 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $32,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,782,612 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,351,041,000 after purchasing an additional 115,063 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,081,488,000 after acquiring an additional 147,800 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $728,284,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,757 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $592,764,000 after buying an additional 24,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,372,311 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $356,348,000 after buying an additional 40,689 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on GD. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $345.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $305.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $311.33.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded down $0.32 during trading on Monday, hitting $290.08. 478,795 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,068,660. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.60. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $214.53 and a 1-year high of $302.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $292.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $282.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.30 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $11.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.70 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

Insider Activity

In other General Dynamics news, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $3,978,647.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 79,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,630,670.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 12,089 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.59, for a total transaction of $3,585,476.51. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 64,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,020,909.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $3,978,647.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 79,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,630,670.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 55,069 shares of company stock valued at $16,295,101. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About General Dynamics

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.