General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Stock Position Increased by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC increased its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 690,718 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,175 shares during the quarter. General Mills comprises about 2.2% of Welch Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $51,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in General Mills by 409.8% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 66.3% in the 1st quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors lifted its position in General Mills by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 40.6% during the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:GIS traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $68.83. The company had a trading volume of 149,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,872,397. The firm has a market cap of $38.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.47 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $72.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.66.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $3,190,365.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total transaction of $576,156.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,055,870.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total transaction of $3,190,365.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 355,328 shares in the company, valued at $24,379,054.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,657,676 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on GIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on General Mills from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Mizuho lowered their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.00.

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 savory snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, frozen hot snacks, ethnic meals, side dish mixes, frozen breakfast and entrees, nutrition bars, and frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.