J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Purchases 1,229 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,220 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Operose Advisors LLC increased its position in General Mills by 214.1% in the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total value of $692,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 93,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,462,899.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 77,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,057,820. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $71.17 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.33 and a twelve month high of $90.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $67.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.39. The firm has a market cap of $40.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 54.13%.

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