Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 244 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,721 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 244 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in General Dynamics were worth $4,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GD. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 1.6% during the third quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.8% during the third quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. raised its stake in General Dynamics by 1.2% in the third quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 3,013 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $911,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,042 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GD shares. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Baird R W downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $298.59.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:GD opened at $243.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $259.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $282.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $65.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics 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.