Brown Advisory Inc. Boosts Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,449 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 949 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,527,000 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. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in General Mills by 4.1% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 206,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,191,000 after acquiring an additional 8,161 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 395,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,289,000 after purchasing an additional 32,674 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth $269,000. Lincoln National Corp boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 35,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,293,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 602,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,583,000 after buying an additional 150,024 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $68.30 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $69.73 and its 200-day moving average is $66.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.15. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $60.33 and a one year high of $85.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. General Mills’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on GIS. HSBC upped their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of General Mills from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,462,899.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total transaction of $692,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares in the company, valued at $6,462,899.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total value of $50,104.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Mills Company 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.