Rockland Trust Co. Increases Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Rockland Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,559 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in General Dynamics by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,782,612 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,351,041,000 after buying an additional 115,063 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,081,488,000 after purchasing an additional 147,800 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $728,284,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,757 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $592,764,000 after purchasing an additional 24,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,680,666 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $474,927,000 after purchasing an additional 23,262 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $294.17. The stock had a trading volume of 166,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,053,779. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $214.53 and a fifty-two week high of $302.75. The firm has a market cap of $80.71 billion, a PE ratio of 23.99, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $290.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $286.78.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.30 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 7.89%. The firm had revenue of $11.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GD shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $305.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $345.00 target price for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $315.06.

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.