Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Boosts Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 25.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 110,532 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,626 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in General Mills were worth $6,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,488,451 shares of the company's stock valued at $923,907,000 after purchasing an additional 136,895 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,341,137 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings 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 worth $514,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $496,484,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $53.13. 3,595,895 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,636,100. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $54.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.09. The company has a market cap of $28.82 billion and a P/E ratio of 12.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.43. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.19 and a 12-month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The firm's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. This is an increase from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective 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. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of General Mills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $51.00 target price (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.73.

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.