South Dakota Investment Council Sells 4,600 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 55,410 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 4,600 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $14,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,207,000. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 28,766 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,470,000 after acquiring an additional 2,303 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $609,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,021 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas increased its stake in General Dynamics by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 19,397 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GD. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.80.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD traded up $1.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $292.70. 1,132,059 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,066,708. The business’s 50 day moving average is $280.02 and its 200-day moving average is $261.08. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $202.35 and a 1 year high of $296.50. The company has a market capitalization of $80.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.44.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 7.84%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total transaction of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at $39,502,023.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total transaction of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at $39,502,023.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.