Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 54,528 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 1,344 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $14,863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GD. DecisionMap Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. DecisionMap Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,182 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,051 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $559,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. CLG LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. CLG LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 5,437 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Resource Group increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 19,200 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $5,234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total value of $50,629,589.73. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 769,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $217,898,829.91. The trade was a 18.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $278.46 on Monday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $275.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.45. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The company has a market capitalization of $74.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.82% and a net margin of 8.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.88 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. TD Securities raised their price target on General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $293.00.

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.

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