Fisher Asset Management LLC Acquires 25,752 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 15.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 187,256 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,752 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $13,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in General Mills by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 68,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,030,000 after acquiring an additional 6,575 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Counsel LLC now owns 91,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,755,000 after acquiring an additional 2,986 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 134.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in General Mills by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 543,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,143,000 after acquiring an additional 26,453 shares during the period. Finally, Pitcairn Co. raised its stake in General Mills by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 13,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 1,877 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $3,190,365.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total value of $576,156.24. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,055,870.64. The trade was a 35.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,721,336 over the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GIS. Barclays increased their price target on General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America increased their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on General Mills in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.67.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS opened at $66.23 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.47 and a twelve month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. General Mills’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

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.