Simon Quick Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 5,097 General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 5,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. State Street Corp increased its holdings in General Mills by 9.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,474,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867,678 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in General Mills by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,054,000 after buying an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 105.2% during the 3rd 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 period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,629,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,151,000 after acquiring an additional 323,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of General Mills by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,823,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,347,000 after acquiring an additional 263,188 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $59.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.94 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid 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 yield of 4.03%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 52.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GIS shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on General Mills from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.31.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.