Distillate Capital Partners LLC Buys New Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Distillate Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 310,242 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,784,000. Distillate Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.06% of General Mills at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth $496,484,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in General Mills by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company's stock worth $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in General Mills by 105.2% in the 3rd 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. Nepsis Inc. increased its stake in General Mills by 3,504.8% in the 4th quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 2,164,395 shares of the company's stock valued at $138,023,000 after buying an additional 2,104,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company's stock worth $4,376,573,000 after buying an additional 1,868,508 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays cut 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 report on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $57.90. 4,145,367 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,403,616. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $59.57 and a 200-day moving average of $63.22. 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 one year low of $55.15 and a one year high of $75.90. The firm has a market cap of $31.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills's payout ratio 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.