Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Has $933,000 Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lessened its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 11.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,422 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 444 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,265,813,000 after purchasing an additional 706,317 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,774,381,000 after purchasing an additional 463,497 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,688,672 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,496,939,000 after purchasing an additional 131,268 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,212,422 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,109,931,000 after purchasing an additional 33,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,935,046 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $773,355,000 after purchasing an additional 145,978 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GD. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Argus set a $295.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.00.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE GD opened at $282.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $239.20 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The company has a market capitalization of $75.94 billion, a PE ratio of 20.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $274.62 and its 200-day moving average is $266.52.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The company had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.61%.

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.