Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Sells 1,266 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS decreased its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,871 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,266 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $14,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:GD opened at $265.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $239.87 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $258.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. BTIG Research lowered General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

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.