General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Bought by Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 590.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,531 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,295 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in General Mills were worth $544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth $272,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its position in General Mills by 27.2% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 1,639 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 3.3% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 33,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the third quarter valued at approximately $989,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 94.7% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 42,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,110,000 after purchasing an additional 20,484 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $59.64 on Monday. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.15 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The stock has a market cap of $32.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.11.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 52.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GIS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Mizuho cut 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 Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.