Quilter Plc Sells 5,465 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Quilter Plc lessened its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 23.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,906 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,465 shares during the period. Quilter Plc’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in General Mills by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in General Mills by 105.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in General Mills by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,474,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867,678 shares during the period. Nepsis Inc. boosted its position in General Mills by 3,504.8% during the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 2,164,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,023,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,353 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 6,114.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 450,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,266,000 after purchasing an additional 443,202 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GIS. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.94.

General Mills Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $58.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.94 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $62.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.14.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.17%.

About General Mills

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.