General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Bought by Natixis Advisors L.P.

Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 123,497 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,060 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $8,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GIS. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in General Mills by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 423,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,602,000 after acquiring an additional 5,540 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of General Mills by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 9,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 5,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 111,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,247,000 after buying an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in General Mills by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 5,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock opened at $69.53 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $68.36 and a 200-day moving average of $65.97. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.33 and a 52-week high of $90.89.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GIS. HSBC upped their price objective on General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 93,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,462,899.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.