Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 18,703 General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 18,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,193,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in General Mills by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,376,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868,508 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,488,451 shares of the company's stock worth $923,907,000 after purchasing an additional 136,895 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in General Mills by 34.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,253,483 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $496,484,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GIS. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "sell" rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $53.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.69.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS traded up $0.46 during trading on Thursday, reaching $53.83. The company had a trading volume of 1,344,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,514,182. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.39 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The business's 50 day moving average price is $56.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.12. The stock has a market cap of $29.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.70, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. General Mills's revenue was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect 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 General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value 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 trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.