Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Acquires Shares of 111,939 General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 111,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,138,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake 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 valued at $497,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in General Mills by 105.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in General Mills by 9.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,474,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867,678 shares during the period. Nepsis Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills by 3,504.8% in 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, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $80,994,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.53.

General Mills Stock Down 1.0 %

General Mills stock opened at $60.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $33.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.15 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.47. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 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 Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.