Advisors Asset Management Inc. Purchases 1,263 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 119,699 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,263 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $7,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America lowered their price target on General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.53.

General Mills Trading Down 1.0 %

GIS opened at $60.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.15 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

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. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.