Virtu Financial LLC Acquires New Shares in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 34,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,214,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RFG Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 23,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,471,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 5.9% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America lowered their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.53.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $58.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.23. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.15 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Company 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.