Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 80,703 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,438 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in General Mills were worth $5,257,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Operose Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 214.1% during the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the third quarter worth about $31,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Up 1.1 %

GIS opened at $71.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $67.01 and a 200 day moving average of $65.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.33 and a 12 month high of $90.89. The firm has a market cap of $40.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. 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%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was 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 owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,523,044.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,462,899.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was 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 directly owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 77,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,057,820 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. HSBC increased their price target 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 boosted their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.