General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Purchased by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,569 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,097 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $4,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in General Mills by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 36,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,557,000 after buying an additional 5,778 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 163.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 63,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,438,000 after acquiring an additional 39,310 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 29.1% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of General Mills by 10.5% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 119,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in General Mills in the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $66.26 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $68.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.47. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.47 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $36.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.11.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.14%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $173,514.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,700,411.92. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,555 shares of company stock worth $4,721,336 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.67.

General Mills Profile

General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and savory snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, frozen hot snacks, ethnic meals, side dish mixes, frozen breakfast and entrees, nutrition bars, and frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.