Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Reduces Holdings in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp trimmed its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 33.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 663,850 shares of the company's stock after selling 340,641 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.12% of General Mills worth $30,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Close Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Davis Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 1,094.4% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 645 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on GIS. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of General Mills from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, April 13th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and six have assigned 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 $43.22.

General Mills Stock Down 0.8%

GIS stock opened at $34.46 on Thursday. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $34.04 and a one year high of $57.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.39 billion, a PE ratio of 8.43 and a beta of 0.01. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $38.76 and a 200-day moving average of $43.87.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.09). General Mills had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 12.05%.The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.12 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

General Mills 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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