Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Purchases 330 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,186 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. TrueMark Investments LLC raised its position in General Mills by 413.7% during the fourth quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC now owns 35,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,268,000 after purchasing an additional 28,638 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in shares of General Mills by 53.5% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,074,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,524,000 after purchasing an additional 374,553 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 22,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth approximately $194,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $59.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $59.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.86. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.15 and a 52-week high of $75.90.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 52.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GIS. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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 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.