BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Sells 376,842 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 827,589 shares of the company’s stock after selling 376,842 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 0.15% of General Mills worth $61,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 41.8% in the second quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 36,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,309,000 after acquiring an additional 10,765 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in General Mills by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 237,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,565,000 after purchasing an additional 43,086 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 92.5% during the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,409,000 after purchasing an additional 23,411 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of General Mills by 129.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,649,000 after buying an additional 104,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 10.5% in the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 119,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,535,000 after buying an additional 11,334 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE GIS opened at $64.08 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.47 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $69.82 and a 200-day moving average of $68.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of $35.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.11.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, September 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. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $3,190,365.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total value of $576,156.24. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,055,870.64. The trade was a 35.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 67,555 shares of company stock worth $4,721,336. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.