Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Boosts Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 271,877 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,900 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in General Mills were worth $17,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GIS. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In related 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 transaction of $67,144.50. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Mills Stock Up 3.1 %

GIS opened at $61.02 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $33.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.10. 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 1 year low of $55.15 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $60.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.53.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its 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 net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

General Mills Company 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.