J2 Capital Management Inc Buys Shares of 8,577 General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

J2 Capital Management Inc bought a new position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,577 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $547,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in General Mills by 1.1% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company's stock worth $999,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 1.7% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 2.6% during the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,789 shares of the company's stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total transaction of $3,190,365.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 355,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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. Insiders sold a total of 48,541 shares of company stock worth $3,321,170 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of GIS stock traded up $0.48 on Friday, hitting $59.64. The stock had a trading volume of 4,458,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,010,859. The company has a market cap of $32.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $57.94 and a one year high of $75.90. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $63.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.52.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. General Mills's payout ratio is 52.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GIS. Bank of America raised 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 report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.31.

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.