Prudential PLC Has $20.64 Million Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Prudential PLC lessened its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 323,586 shares of the company's stock after selling 34,309 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC owned 0.06% of General Mills worth $20,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 2.8% during the fourth 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. State Street Corp grew its holdings in General Mills by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company's stock worth $2,474,177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867,678 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,488,451 shares of the company's stock worth $923,907,000 after acquiring an additional 136,895 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of General Mills by 64.5% in the 4th 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. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $496,484,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock traded down $2.30 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $56.33. The company had a trading volume of 6,625,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,373,281. The business has a 50 day moving average of $59.91 and a 200 day moving average of $64.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. 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 fifty-two week low of $55.15 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills's payout ratio is currently 52.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on GIS. Bank of America decreased their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About General Mills

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.