General Mills, Inc. $GIS Shares Purchased by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 383,877 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 70,800 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in General Mills were worth $19,889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Garde Capital Inc. increased its position in General Mills by 101.5% in the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the first quarter valued at $34,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the first quarter valued at $37,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on General Mills from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Wall Street Zen raised General Mills from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on General Mills from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total transaction of $200,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 66,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,332,313.72. This trade represents a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Mills Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of GIS stock opened at $48.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.79. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.27 and a fifty-two week high of $68.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of -0.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. General Mills had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 15.24%.The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.07 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.12%.

About General Mills

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.