DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Boosts Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 913,326 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 119,955 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in General Mills were worth $67,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 16.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,219,113,000 after acquiring an additional 8,444,312 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in General Mills by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $955,118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,488,341 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 100.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,728,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,138,000 after buying an additional 2,368,563 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 6,140.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 945,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,807,000 after buying an additional 930,271 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,177,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of General Mills in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 9,647 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $717,640.33. Following the sale, the insider now owns 128,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,571,314.96. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 9,647 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $717,640.33. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 128,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,571,314.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $3,190,365.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. The trade was a 0.00 % 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 valued at $4,657,676 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $68.30 on Monday. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $61.47 and a one year high of $75.90. The stock has a market cap of $38.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.10. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $72.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.66.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.68%.

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.