WBI Investments LLC Takes Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

WBI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 27,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,750,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $64.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 353,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS traded down $0.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $53.36. 5,069,204 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,529,238. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.40 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The company has a market cap of $29.41 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.05. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $57.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.57. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $4.84 billion during 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 company's quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.