Portfolio Design Labs LLC Purchases 16,449 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 54.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,861 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,449 shares during the period. Portfolio Design Labs LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $2,988,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 61.5% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE GIS traded down $0.69 on Friday, hitting $58.85. 4,690,260 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,228,352. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.85 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The company's 50-day moving average price is $61.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.88. The company has a market capitalization of $32.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. General Mills's payout ratio is 52.17%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on GIS. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One 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 stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.13.

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.