Lazard Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Lazard Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 208,233 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,060 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $14,568,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Optimist Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $1,171,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 5.8% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 688,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,177,000 after buying an additional 38,021 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in General Mills by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 696,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,711,000 after acquiring an additional 96,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 13,043 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total value of $50,104.70. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.82.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $65.82 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.09. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.33 and a 12 month high of $75.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $65.84 and a 200 day moving average of $66.55.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 55.68%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.