Bailard Inc. Boosts Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Bailard Inc. boosted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 121.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,820 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,308 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 4.0% during the third quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 4,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its position in General Mills by 142.1% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,068 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 9,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $619,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC raised its position in General Mills by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 7,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 102,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,602,574.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 17,726 shares of company stock worth $1,187,811 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. TD Cowen increased their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. HSBC upped their price objective on General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.18.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded down $0.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $71.12. 912,877 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,217,494. The firm has a market cap of $40.39 billion, a PE ratio of 16.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.15. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $90.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.53.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.13%.

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