General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Position Boosted by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 25.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 113,554 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,938 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $7,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 214.1% in the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. bought a new position in General Mills in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in General Mills in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total value of $692,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 93,381 shares in the company, valued at $6,462,899.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total transaction of $692,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 93,381 shares in the company, valued at $6,462,899.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,782 shares of company stock worth $5,057,820. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Mills Price Performance

NYSE GIS opened at $67.31 on Tuesday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.33 and a 12 month high of $90.89. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $38.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.15. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.17.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GIS. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. HSBC raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.18.

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.