National Pension Service Decreases Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

National Pension Service trimmed its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 34.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 884,505 shares of the company's stock after selling 462,089 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.16% of General Mills worth $56,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills by 1.1% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company's stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in General Mills by 61.5% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills by 3.3% during the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 6,176 shares of the company's stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Mills Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE GIS traded up $1.45 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $62.07. 4,093,641 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,895,362. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.23. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.15 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.49, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.10.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills's payout ratio is 52.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $69.06.

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.