Pitcairn Co. Buys 3,073 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Pitcairn Co. increased its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 22.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,635 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,073 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.69.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $59.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.15 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $59.97 and a 200-day moving average of $64.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.75%.

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.