J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Has $731,000 Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,220 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in General Mills by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,051,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654,111 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 257.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,061,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,954,000 after acquiring an additional 765,070 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 6,893.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 512,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,361,000 after acquiring an additional 504,816 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 55.9% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,141,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,071,000 after acquiring an additional 409,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 40.7% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,315,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,207,000 after acquiring an additional 380,855 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GIS shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total transaction of $692,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,462,899.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,057,820. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS opened at $71.17 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $40.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $67.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.39. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.33 and a 1 year high of $90.89.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.13%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.