Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Makes New Investment in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,169 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $521,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,058,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock worth $581,903,000 after acquiring an additional 2,341,137 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 29,096 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,855,000 after purchasing an additional 8,769 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 89.9% in the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 1,329,143 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,759,000 after purchasing an additional 629,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 31,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,013,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GIS shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.00.

General Mills Price Performance

NYSE GIS traded down $0.19 on Friday, reaching $54.52. 4,888,864 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,450,207. The stock has a market cap of $30.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.05. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.82 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

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

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

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 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.