Horizon Investments LLC Has $912,000 Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,446 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 105.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $547,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 72,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,652,000 after purchasing an additional 4,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in General Mills by 64.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Performance

GIS stock opened at $59.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $32.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. 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 50-day moving average price of $60.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.42. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.15 and a 1-year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on GIS shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 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.