BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Sells 376,842 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. decreased its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 827,589 shares of the company’s stock after selling 376,842 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $61,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in General Mills in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Foundation Advisors grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 400.0% in the second quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in General Mills by 61.5% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in General Mills by 47.5% during the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 559 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $64.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.47 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $69.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.66. The firm has a market cap of $35.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.11.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 57.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 355,328 shares in the company, valued at $24,379,054.08. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,555 shares of company stock worth $4,721,336 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America upped their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays increased their price target on General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.67.

General Mills 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.