MML Investors Services LLC Has $7.51 Million Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

MML Investors Services LLC decreased its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 117,739 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,043 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $7,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GIS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 2.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,488,451 shares of the company's stock valued at $923,907,000 after purchasing an additional 136,895 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of General Mills by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $496,484,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in General Mills by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,351,735 shares of the company's stock valued at $405,035,000 after buying an additional 509,268 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GIS. Morgan Stanley began coverage on General Mills in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday. They set a "sell" rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills 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 owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

General Mills Price Performance

NYSE GIS traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $56.16. 3,996,092 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,405,789. 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 cap of $30.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.32 and a 200-day moving average of $62.33. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $55.15 and a one year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is 52.75%.

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.