Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 11,637 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 497,613 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,637 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned approximately 0.09% of General Mills worth $32,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 123,599.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,076,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $928,723,000 after acquiring an additional 11,067,051 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in General Mills by 0.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,852,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $734,907,000 after acquiring an additional 75,902 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in General Mills by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,249,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $691,725,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051,169 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in General Mills by 5.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,995,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $511,608,000 after acquiring an additional 379,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in General Mills by 101.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,935,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $592,673,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496,741 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total value of $692,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 93,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,462,899.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,057,820 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on GIS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Bank of America lifted their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $72.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.18.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $67.82 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $66.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.19. The company has a market cap of $38.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.33 and a twelve month high of $90.89.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.13%.

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.