Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Grows Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 271,877 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,900 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in General Mills were worth $17,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 237,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,565,000 after acquiring an additional 43,086 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in General Mills by 105.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter worth approximately $547,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills by 129.9% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,649,000 after purchasing an additional 104,436 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % 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 hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho dropped their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reduced their price target on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.88.

General Mills Trading Up 3.1 %

NYSE:GIS opened at $61.02 on Monday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.15 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The firm has a market cap of $33.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.53.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

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.