Intellectus Partners LLC Boosts Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Intellectus Partners LLC grew its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,525 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Intellectus Partners LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC now owns 14,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $934,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 106.5% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 6,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 3,462 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $422,000. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 16,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,075,000 after buying an additional 749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 5,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS traded down $0.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $70.83. The company had a trading volume of 4,170,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,758,869. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.60. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $90.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.15. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC raised their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $72.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.18.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total value of $692,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,462,899.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,726 shares of company stock valued at $1,187,811. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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