Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 12,900 General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 12,900 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,428,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 620.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 72 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 650.0% in the third quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 75 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 65.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of GD stock opened at $346.30 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $341.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $347.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.90. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $288.62 and a 1-year high of $369.70.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a $1.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 40.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,000,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,884,695. This represents a 33.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total transaction of $12,596,179.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,457,677.75. This trade represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 78,190 shares of company stock worth $27,041,022 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.