Gotham Asset Management LLC Increases Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 60.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 232,214 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,400 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $14,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GIS. RFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 23,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its position in General Mills by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $54.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.05. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $53.82 and a one year high of $75.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.29.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on GIS. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price target on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays cut their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.00.

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.