State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 1,200 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

State of Michigan Retirement System cut its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,812 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $18,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GD. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 34,578.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,244,600 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $339,253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241,011 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $279,582,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,265,813,000 after acquiring an additional 706,317 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,774,381,000 after acquiring an additional 463,497 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 6,387.2% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 401,236 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $105,722,000 after acquiring an additional 395,051 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $294.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total value of $50,629,589.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 769,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $217,898,829.91. This represents a 18.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $302.20 on Friday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $281.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $269.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.46.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.61%.

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.

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