Kraft Davis & Associates LLC Takes $228,000 Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Kraft Davis & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 123,599.0% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,076,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $928,723,000 after purchasing an additional 11,067,051 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in General Mills by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,852,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $734,907,000 after purchasing an additional 75,902 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in General Mills by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,249,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $691,725,000 after buying an additional 1,051,169 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of General Mills by 5.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,995,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $511,608,000 after buying an additional 379,702 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 101.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,935,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $592,673,000 after buying an additional 3,496,741 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 102,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,602,574.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 77,782 shares of company stock worth $5,057,820 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GIS. Citigroup began coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $72.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.18.

General Mills Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:GIS traded up $1.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.42. 3,992,289 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,141,963. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.33 and a 12-month high of $90.89.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 54.13%.

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