Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 7,383 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Baird Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 186,050 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,383 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $11,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company's stock worth $4,376,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868,508 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,488,451 shares of the company's stock worth $923,907,000 after buying an additional 136,895 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock worth $581,903,000 after buying an additional 2,341,137 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in General Mills by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,061,793 shares of the company's stock valued at $514,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,483 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $496,484,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $54.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,888,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,442,001. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.82 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.05.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. General Mills's quarterly revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $53.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on General Mills in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "sell" rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.00.

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.