DnB Asset Management AS Acquires 7,236 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

DnB Asset Management AS grew its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 134,879 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,236 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in General Mills were worth $8,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America decreased their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.69.

General Mills Stock Performance

General Mills stock opened at $59.09 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.15 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a market capitalization of $32.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. The company 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%. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. Research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. 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.