27,447 Shares in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Acquired by WBI Investments LLC

WBI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 27,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,750,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in General Mills by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,376,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868,508 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,488,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $923,907,000 after acquiring an additional 136,895 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in General Mills by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $581,903,000 after purchasing an additional 2,341,137 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in General Mills by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,061,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $514,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at $496,484,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GIS. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 17th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. 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. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.69.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $55.14 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $57.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.76. The company has a market cap of $30.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.93 and a 12 month high of $75.90.

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 net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills 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.