Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Acquires 4,217 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. grew its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 83.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,299 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,217 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,474,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867,678 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 64.5% during the fourth 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,082,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,902,000 after purchasing an additional 360,368 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,004,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,385,000 after purchasing an additional 207,346 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $59.23 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $60.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.42. The company has a market cap of $32.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. 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.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 4.05%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen cut their price target on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.53.

General Mills Company 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.