Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 300 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,900 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GD. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 867 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. bought a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,520,000. RWA Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,233,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in General Dynamics by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 943,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $244,976,000 after acquiring an additional 136,495 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD traded down $0.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $293.16. 244,412 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,051,940. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $214.53 and a fifty-two week high of $302.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $80.43 billion, a PE ratio of 23.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $290.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $286.83.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.30 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 7.89%. The firm had revenue of $11.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.70 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GD shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $305.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $315.06.

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.