General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Holdings Lifted by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,425 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Down 3.7 %

GIS stock opened at $60.03 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $33.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.15 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.83.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 52.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.24.

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.