Pinebridge Investments L.P. Purchases 373,303 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 481.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 450,855 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 373,303 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P. owned 0.08% of General Mills worth $28,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company's stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 834,417 shares of the company's stock worth $53,211,000 after acquiring an additional 85,612 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 105.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company's stock worth $421,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 484,550 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,900,000 after purchasing an additional 46,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J2 Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at $547,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the business's 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 directly owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $58.08 on Wednesday. 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 50 day moving average price of $59.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.66. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.15 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm's revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GIS shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. 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 MarketBeat, General Mills has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.69.

General Mills Company 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.

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