Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Buys 706 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,386 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in General Mills by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Down 2.9 %

GIS opened at $59.84 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $63.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.94 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price target on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America raised shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.