State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 34.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,563 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 44,868 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $24,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $728,284,000. Verity & Verity LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the first quarter worth $179,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 3,645.4% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 558,586 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $145,048,000 after buying an additional 543,672 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 879.9% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 340,359 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $96,148,000 after acquiring an additional 305,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $43,733,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.4 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $300.72 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $292.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $289.65. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $214.53 and a twelve month high of $306.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $11.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.46 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 16.74%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $345.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $315.06.

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.