General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by AGF Management Ltd.

AGF Management Ltd. decreased its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,932 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,906 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of General Mills by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,054,000 after buying an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in General Mills by 105.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in General Mills by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,474,177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867,678 shares during the period. Nepsis Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills by 3,504.8% in the 4th quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 2,164,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,023,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $80,994,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $59.72 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $32.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.98, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. 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 results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on GIS. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.24.

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.