Amica Mutual Insurance Co. Buys Shares of 30,382 General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Amica Mutual Insurance Co. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 30,382 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,889,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 99.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 29,045 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,542,000 after acquiring an additional 14,468 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the third quarter worth approximately $16,077,000. Moreno Evelyn V grew its position in General Dynamics by 17.1% in the third quarter. Moreno Evelyn V now owns 27,310 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,035,000 after buying an additional 3,991 shares during the last quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at $26,868,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 57.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 326,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $72,063,000 after buying an additional 119,264 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $305.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Monday. Argus upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $297.06.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded up $3.38 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $287.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,293,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,116,899. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $202.35 and a 1-year high of $296.50. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $281.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $262.41. The stock has a market cap of $78.96 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.01). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The company had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.33%.

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.