Sterling Capital Management LLC Purchases 11,937 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 55.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,589 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,937 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $2,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $496,484,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in General Mills by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company's stock worth $497,054,000 after buying an additional 3,058,414 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in General Mills by 105.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company's stock valued at $421,552,000 after buying an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 2.8% in the 4th 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

General Mills stock traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $57.52. 3,368,814 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,405,556. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.15 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The firm has a market cap of $31.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. 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 50-day moving average of $59.48 and a 200 day moving average of $62.95.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills's payout ratio is 52.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays dropped their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm'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 value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

About General Mills

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.