Columbus Macro LLC Purchases 9,367 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Columbus Macro LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 57.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,708 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,367 shares during the period. Columbus Macro LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $1,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in General Mills by 61.5% during the third 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 last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock traded up $0.69 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $59.60. 4,118,927 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,388,427. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.94 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.10.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $70.94.

General Mills Company 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.