Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 484,550 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 46,536 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.09% of General Mills worth $30,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company's stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 23,061 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,471,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,579 shares of the company's stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 5.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,593 shares of the company's stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

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General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $56.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,216,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,390,563. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $31.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.15 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $59.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.67.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Citigroup cut their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.