General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Bought by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 46.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 316,207 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 100,467 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S owned approximately 0.06% of General Mills worth $20,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its position in General Mills by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company's stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 834,417 shares of the company's stock worth $53,211,000 after purchasing an additional 85,612 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of General Mills by 105.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company's stock worth $421,552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926,232 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 484,550 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,900,000 after purchasing an additional 46,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J2 Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $547,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GIS. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho cut their target price on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on General Mills in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "sell" rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.00.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $57.28. 3,493,635 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,404,010. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.15 and a 1-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 firm has a market capitalization of $31.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.43 and a 200 day moving average of $62.66.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.19%. General Mills's payout ratio is currently 52.75%.

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.