General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Purchased by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,949 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,839 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $4,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in General Mills by 105.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,232 shares in the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $547,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in General Mills by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Lion Street Advisors LLC now owns 1,048,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,886,000 after purchasing an additional 290,240 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup decreased their target price on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.24.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $60.03 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $33.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.15 and a 52 week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

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 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.