Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 72,949 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,839 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $4,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,058,414 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in General Mills by 105.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in General Mills by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,474,177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867,678 shares in the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. increased its position in shares of General Mills by 3,504.8% in the 4th quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 2,164,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,023,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $80,994,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $60.03 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $60.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.83. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $33.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.15 and a 52-week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. 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 report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.24.

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.