Headlands Technologies LLC Reduces Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Headlands Technologies LLC lowered its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 18.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,268 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,203 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors raised its position in General Mills by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,074,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,858,000 after purchasing an additional 501,717 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at $377,205,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in General Mills by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,362,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,459,000 after purchasing an additional 369,628 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in General Mills by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,003,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,909,000 after purchasing an additional 235,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in General Mills by 106.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,442,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,345 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $50,104.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares in the company, valued at $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on GIS. Bank of America reduced their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays reduced their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. HSBC upped their target price on General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup reduced their target price on General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.82.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded up $1.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $64.51. The company had a trading volume of 460,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,119,428. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.33 and a twelve month high of $77.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $36.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.09. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.55.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.68%.

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