New England Research & Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

New England Research & Management Inc. lessened its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 64.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,125 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,600 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake 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. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in General Mills by 105.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company's stock worth $421,552,000 after buying an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in General Mills by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,823,254 shares of the company's stock worth $282,347,000 after buying an additional 263,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its position in General Mills by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 2,492,918 shares of the company's stock valued at $183,778,000 after buying an additional 92,931 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock traded up $0.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $60.76. The stock had a trading volume of 1,547,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,262,342. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.94 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $63.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.36. The firm has a market cap of $33.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.11.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GIS shares. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $70.94.

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.