Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Buys New Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company raised its holdings in General Mills by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 6,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TrueWealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the 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 owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at $20,523,044.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the sale, the insider now owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,057,820. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup initiated coverage on General Mills in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.18.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $70.42 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $66.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.31. The stock has a market cap of $39.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15. 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 54.13%.

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