Norges Bank Takes Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,785,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $496,484,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in General Mills during the third quarter worth $355,000. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 60,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,432,000 after purchasing an additional 2,290 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 80.4% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 13,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $987,000 after buying an additional 5,955 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in General Mills by 0.8% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 534,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,466,000 after buying an additional 3,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in General Mills by 11.6% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 24,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,775,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on GIS. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho decreased their price target on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.69.

General Mills Stock Down 1.0 %

General Mills stock opened at $59.09 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $59.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.74. The stock has a market cap of $32.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.15 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.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.75%.

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.