State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Reduces Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury decreased its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,065 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 5,408 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $21,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Purus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 10,279 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,708,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, 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 transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GD traded down $0.76 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $271.21. 228,987 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,726,692. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $264.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $271.77. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.20 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $72.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.23. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The firm had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.92 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $293.83.

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.