Old North State Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Old North State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 60.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,987 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,638 shares during the period. Old North State Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $999,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 1.1% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.7% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 46.7% in the third quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $58.98 on Wednesday. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.94 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $62.87 and a 200 day moving average of $67.30. The stock has a market cap of $32.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup cut their target price on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upgraded General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.94.

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 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.