Vontobel Holding Ltd. Has $26.98 Million Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 423,072 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,152 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned about 0.08% of General Mills worth $26,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 237,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,565,000 after purchasing an additional 43,086 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 105.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $547,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 129.9% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,649,000 after purchasing an additional 104,436 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of General Mills by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $58.85 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.85 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The stock has a market cap of $32.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business’s 50 day moving average is $61.74 and its 200-day moving average is $66.93.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GIS shares. Mizuho decreased their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upgraded General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.13.

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.