Unigestion Holding SA Sells 102,072 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Unigestion Holding SA decreased its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 41.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 143,282 shares of the company’s stock after selling 102,072 shares during the quarter. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in General Mills were worth $9,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 834,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,211,000 after buying an additional 85,612 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in General Mills by 105.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after buying an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $547,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,749,000 after acquiring an additional 5,853 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $59.64 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.15 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.19. 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 cap of $32.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 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 in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. General Mills’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.69.

Insider Activity

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.