Swiss National Bank Lowers Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,656,600 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,000 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.30% of General Mills worth $122,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in General Mills by 6.9% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,028 shares of the company's stock worth $3,325,000 after acquiring an additional 2,907 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC increased its position in General Mills by 44.8% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 5,901 shares of the company's stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 1,825 shares during the period. Ceera Investments LLC increased its position in General Mills by 10.4% during the third quarter. Ceera Investments LLC now owns 7,666 shares of the company's stock worth $566,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the period. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL bought a new position in General Mills during the third quarter worth about $772,000. Finally, South Street Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills during the third quarter worth about $225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on General Mills in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 9,647 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $717,640.33. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 128,664 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,571,314.96. This trade represents a 6.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $173,514.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,700,411.92. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,555 shares of company stock worth $4,657,676 in the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Mills Trading Down 0.2 %

General Mills stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $62.78. The company had a trading volume of 1,557,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,899,495. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $70.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.78. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.47 and a 12-month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The company's revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

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.