General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG cut its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 39.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 42,826 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,053 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rodgers Brothers Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 173,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,042,000 after buying an additional 47,755 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth approximately $486,000. Everstar Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Everstar Asset Management LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 834,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,211,000 after purchasing an additional 85,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 58.1% in the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 757,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,275,000 after purchasing an additional 278,308 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $59.70 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $59.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.42. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.15 and a 12-month high of $75.90. 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 company has a market capitalization of $32.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly 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. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GIS. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. TD Cowen cut 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. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. 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 data from MarketBeat, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.69.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related 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 transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.