Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management increased its General Mills stake by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, ending with 15.2 million shares worth about $704.2 million.
• General Mills reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.64 versus estimates of $0.73 and revenue of $4.44 billion, down 8.4% year over year.
• Wall Street sentiment remains cautious: several analysts cut price targets, and the stock currently carries a consensus rating of “Reduce” with an average price target of $41.78.

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,197,534 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 172,200 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.85% of General Mills worth $704,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in General Mills in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,188,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in General Mills by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 65,118 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,552 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its position in General Mills by 112.6% in the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 8,971 shares of the company's stock valued at $465,000 after acquiring an additional 4,752 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in General Mills by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 82,037 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,250,000 after acquiring an additional 3,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC grew its position in General Mills by 334.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 19,542 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 15,041 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $33.82 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $32.64 and a one year high of $55.19. The company has a market cap of $18.05 billion, a PE ratio of 8.27 and a beta of -0.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.97.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.09). General Mills had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 12.05%.The company had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho dropped their target price on General Mills from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Bank of America dropped their target price on General Mills from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their target price on General Mills from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on General Mills from $33.00 to $30.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on General Mills in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $41.78.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total transaction of $342,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 86,002 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,947,288.54. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ricardo Fernandez sold 7,995 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total value of $275,827.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 62,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,148,763.50. This represents a 11.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

General Mills Company Profile

General Mills, Inc NYSE: GIS is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company's portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.

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