Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Trims Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 28.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,716,663 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,106,591 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.49% of General Mills worth $173,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter worth approximately $496,484,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in General Mills by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company's stock worth $497,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,058,414 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 105.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company's stock valued at $421,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,232 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in General Mills by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,474,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867,678 shares during the period. Finally, Nepsis Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills by 3,504.8% in the 4th quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 2,164,395 shares of the company's stock worth $138,023,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,353 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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General Mills Stock Down 2.9 %

GIS traded down $1.72 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $56.91. 3,963,375 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,363,375. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.15 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $59.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.00. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $31.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GIS. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

General Mills 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.