General Mills, Inc. $GIS Shares Bought by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 171.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,684 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 44,667 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in General Mills were worth $3,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Close Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in General Mills during the third quarter worth $28,000. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in General Mills during the third quarter worth $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 1,094.4% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills in the third quarter valued at $32,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore set a $45.00 price target on General Mills in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $43.56.

General Mills Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $37.31 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $19.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12 and a beta of -0.05. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.63 and a 52-week high of $62.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.95.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.09). General Mills had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 12.05%.The company had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 59.66%.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc (NYSE: GIS) is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company’s portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.