Bessemer Group Inc. Has $8.61 Million Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,965 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $8,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, 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 transaction of $739,635.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GIS shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup lowered their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on General Mills in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.69.

General Mills Stock Up 1.3 %

GIS opened at $57.92 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.15 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The company has a market capitalization of $31.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.44.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.75%.

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.