Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Raises Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,135 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $5,832,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after acquiring an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after acquiring an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 117.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $259,469,000 after acquiring an additional 463,000 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $284,818,000 after acquiring an additional 283,972 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,366,124,000 after acquiring an additional 189,904 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BTIG Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $276.00 to $244.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Vertical Research lowered General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.71.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD stock opened at $248.92 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $67.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $239.87 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $258.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.65.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.