General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Acquired by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 190,498 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,675 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $12,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GIS. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of General Mills by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,474,177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867,678 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in General Mills by 64.5% in the fourth 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in General Mills by 105.2% during 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 last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 6.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,629,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,151,000 after purchasing an additional 323,090 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,823,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,347,000 after buying an additional 263,188 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total transaction of $3,190,365.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 48,541 shares of company stock valued at $3,321,170 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $59.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $32.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.94 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $63.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.55.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on General Mills from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.31.

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.