Asset Planning Inc Purchases New Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 30,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,937,000. General Mills makes up approximately 1.5% of Asset Planning Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in General Mills by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America raised shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Mills Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE GIS opened at $59.60 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $32.86 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $57.85 and a one year high of $75.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $61.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.99.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

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.