Hall Laurie J Trustee Acquires Shares of 1,600 General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Hall Laurie J Trustee acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 43,086 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of General Mills by 129.9% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,649,000 after buying an additional 104,436 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in General Mills by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 105.8% during the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 144,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,697,000 after acquiring an additional 74,456 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the 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 $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,541 shares of company stock valued at $3,321,170 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:GIS opened at $59.64 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 1 year low of $57.94 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The stock has a market cap of $32.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.52.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.31.

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.