California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 55,712 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,551,699 shares of the company’s stock after selling 55,712 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.63% of General Mills worth $231,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in General Mills by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,051,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654,111 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 257.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,061,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,954,000 after purchasing an additional 765,070 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 6,893.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 512,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,361,000 after acquiring an additional 504,816 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in General Mills by 55.9% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,141,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,071,000 after acquiring an additional 409,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 40.7% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,315,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,207,000 after acquiring an additional 380,855 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the sale, the insider now owns 102,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,602,574.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 77,782 shares of company stock worth $5,057,820 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.18.

General Mills Stock Performance

GIS stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $71.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 447,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,231,851. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $40.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.39. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.33 and a 1 year high of $90.89.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.13%.

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.