Savant Capital LLC Has $1.99 Million Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 31,232 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Angeles Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $263,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $708,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 143,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,138,000 after buying an additional 63,456 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 9,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $432,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Mills Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $58.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.85 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.22 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. General Mills’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.13.

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.