Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Raises Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 46,934 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $13,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $837,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 3.2% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,707 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. raised its stake in General Dynamics by 26.5% in the first quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 2,830 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $799,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in General Dynamics by 2.0% in the first quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,825 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,646,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the first quarter valued at about $238,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $3,978,647.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 79,255 shares in the company, valued at $23,630,670.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 2,570 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.00, for a total transaction of $740,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,518 shares in the company, valued at $1,589,184. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $3,978,647.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 79,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,630,670.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 118,486 shares of company stock worth $34,391,642 over the last quarter. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $283.98. 21,997 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,046,547. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.91 billion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.60. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $212.58 and a fifty-two week high of $302.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $293.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $279.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.44.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.01). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The business had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on GD. Citigroup increased their price target on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.56.

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.