Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 54.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 342,761 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 120,334 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.06% of General Mills worth $21,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $338,000. Rockland Trust Co. grew its position in General Mills by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 165,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,548,000 after acquiring an additional 3,784 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,211 shares of the company's stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $470,000. Finally, 626 Financial LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. 626 Financial LLC now owns 14,283 shares of the company's stock worth $911,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America raised shares of General Mills from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.31.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded up $0.48 on Friday, hitting $59.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,458,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,010,859. 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 $57.94 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The company has a market capitalization of $32.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.49.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares of the company's stock, 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 sold a total of 48,541 shares of company stock valued at $3,321,170 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

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.