Metis Global Partners LLC Increases Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,558 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 434 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 213.2% in the 3rd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 10,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $754,000 after acquiring an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 96.4% during the 3rd quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,762,000 after acquiring an additional 11,714 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $243,000. Finally, Saturna Capital Corp lifted its position in General Mills by 28.0% in the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 6,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

General Mills Stock Performance

General Mills stock opened at $64.71 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.47 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $35.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $71.10 and its 200 day moving average is $68.93.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share 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 company’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total transaction of $576,156.24. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,055,870.64. This represents a 35.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 9,647 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $717,640.33. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 128,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,571,314.96. This represents a 6.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,555 shares of company stock worth $4,657,676 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.