Northstar Asset Management Inc. Invests $202,000 in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Northstar Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $377,205,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 106.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,442,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,345 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in General Mills by 48.7% in the third 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 period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 257.7% during 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 last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in General Mills by 165.6% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,049,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,381,000 after buying an additional 654,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total value of $50,104.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $50,104.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total value of $692,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,462,899.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock traded down $1.25 on Thursday, hitting $69.10. 3,083,382 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,020,317. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $69.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.39. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $60.33 and a one year high of $85.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. The company 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%. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.06.

About General Mills

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.