LPL Financial LLC Grows Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 808,678 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,734 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $51,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 15.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 187,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,829,000 after acquiring an additional 25,752 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in General Mills in the third quarter worth about $355,000. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $4,432,000 after purchasing an additional 2,290 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 80.4% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 13,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $987,000 after purchasing an additional 5,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 38,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,854,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE GIS opened at $59.65 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.15 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict 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 is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Mizuho decreased their target price on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target 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, Bank of America decreased their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.69.

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.