Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,351,735 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 509,268 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 1.15% of General Mills worth $405,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 approximately $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on General Mills in a report on Wednesday. They set a "sell" rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Two equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.00.

General Mills Price Performance

NYSE GIS traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $57.28. 3,493,635 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,404,010. The company has a market cap of $31.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. 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 1 year low of $55.15 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.66.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

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