Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 690 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. trimmed its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,093 shares of the company’s stock after selling 690 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $918,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 123,599.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,076,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $928,723,000 after purchasing an additional 11,067,051 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in General Mills by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,852,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $734,907,000 after purchasing an additional 75,902 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in General Mills by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,249,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $691,725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051,169 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in General Mills by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,995,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $511,608,000 after purchasing an additional 379,702 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in General Mills by 101.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,935,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $592,673,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496,741 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on GIS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $72.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. HSBC lifted their target price on General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at $6,602,574.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at $6,602,574.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 77,782 shares of company stock worth $5,057,820. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $67.31 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $66.43 and a 200 day moving average of $65.17. The company has a market capitalization of $38.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.15. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.33 and a 1-year 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.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 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 payout ratio is currently 54.13%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.