General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Bought by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,053 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $4,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 188.3% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 40,830 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $10,602,000 after purchasing an additional 26,668 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics by 99.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 29,045 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,542,000 after acquiring an additional 14,468 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter worth $16,077,000. Clough Capital Partners L P purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at $26,868,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 326,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $72,063,000 after buying an additional 119,264 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $300.53.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock traded up $3.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $291.37. 870,235 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,113,557. The company has a market cap of $79.94 billion, a PE ratio of 23.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $202.35 and a one year high of $296.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $282.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $264.06.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,773,956.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total value of $3,914,215.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.