Access Financial Services Inc. Grows Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Access Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 17,936 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,225 shares during the quarter. Access Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in General Mills by 0.5% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 54,713,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,196,559,000 after buying an additional 279,268 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,076,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,536,986,000 after purchasing an additional 216,622 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 123,599.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,076,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $928,723,000 after purchasing an additional 11,067,051 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,852,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $734,907,000 after purchasing an additional 75,902 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,249,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $691,725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051,169 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup began coverage on General Mills in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $72.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on General Mills from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 11th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.18.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total transaction of $692,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,462,899.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 77,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,057,820 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock opened at $69.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $39.72 billion, a PE ratio of 16.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.15. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.33 and a 12-month high of $90.89. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $65.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.82.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.13%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.