Millstone Evans Group LLC Invests $259,000 in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in General Mills by 64.5% in the 4th 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. raised its holdings in General Mills by 105.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,867,678 shares during the period. Nepsis Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills by 3,504.8% in the 4th 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 position in General Mills in the 4th quarter worth about $80,994,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock opened at $58.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78, 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.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America reduced their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About General Mills

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.