Strs Ohio Reduces Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Strs Ohio decreased its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 253,730 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,397 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in General Mills were worth $16,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 772,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,313,000 after buying an additional 13,454 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,219,000. Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 386,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,185,000 after purchasing an additional 43,350 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 7,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,286,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.18.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total value of $692,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,462,899.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total value of $692,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,462,899.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 77,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,057,820. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $67.82 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $66.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.19. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.33 and a 1 year high of $90.89.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 54.13%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.