Martingale Asset Management L P Grows Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Martingale Asset Management L P increased its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 68.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,910 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,662 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in General Mills were worth $1,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 1.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,634,280 shares of the company's stock worth $120,691,000 after purchasing an additional 19,290 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 10.0% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,489 shares of the company's stock worth $906,000 after buying an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of General Mills by 7.0% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 296,453 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,893,000 after buying an additional 19,510 shares during the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 0.6% in the third quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 108,475 shares of the company's stock worth $8,011,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 16.2% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 58,822 shares of the company's stock worth $4,344,000 after acquiring an additional 8,207 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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General Mills Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of GIS traded down $1.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.52. The company had a trading volume of 4,201,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,402,812. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $59.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.15 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.25%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GIS shares. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on General Mills in a report on Monday, March 24th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $53.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho dropped their target price on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America cut their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by 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.