Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,560,359 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 143,161 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.65% of General Mills worth $227,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $512,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of General Mills by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 103,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,076,000 after purchasing an additional 9,119 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the third quarter worth $44,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills by 5.4% in the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marks Group Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in General Mills during the third quarter valued at $217,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America decreased their target price on General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.06.

General Mills Stock Up 2.0 %

GIS opened at $62.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $34.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.15 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $60.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

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.