General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Acquired by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 817,846 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 63,536 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.15% of General Mills worth $52,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GIS. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.69.

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Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

General Mills Trading Up 1.0 %

GIS stock traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $57.72. 1,397,883 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,953,044. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.15 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $59.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.55. The company has a market capitalization of $31.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.53, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.75%.

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.