Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Purchases 240 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,968 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays reduced their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.69.

General Mills Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:GIS opened at $59.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $32.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $59.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.89. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.15 and a 52 week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 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.