General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Bought by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 20.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 183,861 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,856 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $11,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on GIS shares. Bank of America decreased 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. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.71.

General Mills Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of GIS stock opened at $61.01 on Tuesday. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.15 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

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.