Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Decreases Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,733 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 879 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,292,851,000 after acquiring an additional 109,618 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after purchasing an additional 189,904 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,493,030,000 after buying an additional 24,464 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $268.11 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $72.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $258.34 and its 200 day moving average is $278.25.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GD shares. BTIG Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Vertical Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price target (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

About General Dynamics

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.