Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC Sells 765 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,870 shares of the company’s stock after selling 765 shares during the quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted its holdings in General Mills by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 23,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,480,000 after acquiring an additional 4,732 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 32,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,081,000 after purchasing an additional 6,948 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 186,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,912,000 after buying an additional 33,300 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in General Mills by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 670,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,748,000 after buying an additional 47,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barry Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in General Mills by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Barry Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 968 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GIS shares. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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, December 19th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.94.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE GIS opened at $59.94 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.11. 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 52-week low of $57.94 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $63.23 and a 200-day moving average of $67.42.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

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.