Forsta AP Fonden Boosts Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 186,800 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,300 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in General Mills were worth $11,912,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in General Mills by 46.7% in the third quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $60.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $33.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.94 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $63.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other General Mills news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup dropped their target price on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.94.

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.