Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Reduces Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership decreased its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 45.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 827,086 shares of the company's stock after selling 675,543 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.15% of General Mills worth $52,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in General Mills by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company's stock worth $4,376,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868,508 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 9.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company's stock worth $2,474,177,000 after buying an additional 2,867,678 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $497,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,058,414 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $496,484,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in General Mills by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,731,471 shares of the company's stock worth $365,496,000 after acquiring an additional 670,642 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on GIS shares. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup decreased their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.69.

General Mills Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of General Mills stock traded down $1.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $59.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,577,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,351,286. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.15 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The firm's 50-day moving average is $59.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.11. The company has a market cap of $32.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company's revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid 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 yield of 4.02%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate 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.