Legal & General Group Plc Sells 1,147,705 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,949,289 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,147,705 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.72% of General Mills worth $251,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GIS. Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in General Mills by 3.3% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 33,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the third quarter valued at $989,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 28,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 9,285 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $56.42 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market cap of $31.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $59.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.82. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.15 and a 1 year high of $75.90.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid 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 yield of 4.25%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho lowered their target price on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.69.

About General Mills

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.