QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 175 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

QRG Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $5,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $355,000. abrdn plc boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 67.1% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 32,456 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $9,737,000 after acquiring an additional 13,032 shares in the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at $337,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at $215,000. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 8,545 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GD. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $276.00 to $244.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.71.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.5 %

GD stock opened at $252.87 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $258.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $281.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently 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.