General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Bought by Exeter Financial LLC

Exeter Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 18.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,325 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,243 shares during the period. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 2.8% in the fourth 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,488,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $923,907,000 after buying an additional 136,895 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,903,000 after buying an additional 2,341,137 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in General Mills by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,061,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $514,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,483 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $496,484,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Stock Up 1.1%

General Mills stock opened at $53.98 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $56.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.05. The stock has a market cap of $29.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.05. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.39 and a 52 week high of $75.90. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share 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 firm 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 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays decreased their target price 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. Bank of America reduced their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group began coverage on General Mills in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “sell” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.