General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Acquired by Independence Bank of Kentucky

Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 85.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,230 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,492 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in General Mills were worth $206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 237,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,565,000 after buying an additional 43,086 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in General Mills by 105.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $547,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 129.9% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,649,000 after purchasing an additional 104,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 64.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other General Mills news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of GIS opened at $60.11 on Monday. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.94 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.33.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America raised General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.94.

General Mills 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.