California State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 381,674 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 1,404 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.14% of General Dynamics worth $100,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Purus Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 826 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 163 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stokes Family Office LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 10,279 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,708,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on GD shares. 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 note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. BTIG Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $292.88.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:GD traded down $0.38 on Thursday, reaching $271.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,319,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,362,451. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $239.20 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $72.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $265.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $271.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. The business had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.88 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. General Dynamics's payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

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.