Mizuho Securities USA LLC Boosts Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 45.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,616 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,522 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $3,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company's stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. raised its stake in General Mills by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 23,061 shares of the company's stock worth $1,471,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,579 shares of the company's stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in General Mills by 5.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.69.

General Mills Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of General Mills stock traded up $0.58 on Thursday, reaching $59.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,013,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,116,165. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.15 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $59.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $32.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

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. Equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.