Retirement Systems of Alabama Decreases Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 55,872 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 512 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $14,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Guidance Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 3,248 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $865,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the period. 1858 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. 1858 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,186 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $839,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 2,027 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 3,910 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,030,000 after buying an additional 1,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC now owns 21,196 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,585,000 after buying an additional 2,076 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. TD Cowen lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $300.06.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of GD opened at $254.84 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $265.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $285.87. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $247.01 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.88 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.64%.

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.