B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Buys New Shares in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 70,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,234,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. First Foundation Advisors raised its stake in General Mills by 400.0% during the second quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 500 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 559 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.67.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $3,190,365.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 67,555 shares of company stock worth $4,721,336 in the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $63.80. 4,684,690 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,908,723. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.70. The company has a market cap of $35.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.39. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.47 and a 52 week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

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.