Kraft Davis & Associates LLC Acquires New Shares in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Kraft Davis & Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 3,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Operose Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 214.1% in the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 107.4% during the 2nd quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 450 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 77,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,057,820. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.18.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded up $1.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $70.42. The stock had a trading volume of 3,992,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,141,963. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.15. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.33 and a 12-month high of $90.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.13%.

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