Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Increases Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 590.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,531 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,295 shares during the quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd's holdings in General Mills were worth $544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 23,061 shares of the company's stock worth $1,471,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,579 shares of the company's stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,916 shares of the company's stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,593 shares of the company's stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded up $0.75 on Friday, reaching $57.92. 4,235,540 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,401,954. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.15 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.61 and a 200-day moving average of $63.44. The firm has a market cap of $31.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho dropped their target price on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays cut their price objective 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. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.69.

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.