Sowell Financial Services LLC Buys 9,019 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 17.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,644 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 9,019 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $3,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 64.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company's stock worth $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 valued at $421,552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in General Mills by 9.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,474,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867,678 shares during the period. Nepsis Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills by 3,504.8% during the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 2,164,395 shares of the company's stock worth $138,023,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $80,994,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Bank of America decreased their price target on General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $68.24.

General Mills Stock Performance

GIS traded down $1.45 on Wednesday, hitting $60.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,773,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,945,902. The stock has a market cap of $33.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. 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 fifty day moving average price is $60.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.87. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.15 and a 1-year high of $75.90.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. General Mills's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

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.