Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $7.63 Million Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,699 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $7,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in General Mills by 64.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,054,000 after buying an additional 3,058,414 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 105.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,232 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of General Mills by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,474,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867,678 shares during the period. Nepsis Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 3,504.8% in the 4th quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 2,164,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,023,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $80,994,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock opened at $60.33 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.47. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.15 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a market cap of $33.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GIS shares. Mizuho dropped their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.53.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

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

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.