Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas Buys 34,678 Shares of General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Oddo BHF Asset Management increased its General Mills stake by 28.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 34,678 shares and bringing its total holdings to 154,968 shares worth about $7.2 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to or initiated positions in General Mills, and the stock remains heavily held by institutions at 75.71% ownership.
• Analyst sentiment has turned more cautious: multiple firms cut ratings or price targets, and the consensus view is now “Reduce” with a target price of $39.39, while GIS shares traded around $34.27 after a 0.7% decline.

Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas increased its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 28.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 154,968 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 34,678 shares during the quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas' holdings in General Mills were worth $7,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in General Mills by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,717,972 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,700,060,000 after acquiring an additional 145,701 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in General Mills by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,697,919 shares of the company's stock valued at $915,953,000 after acquiring an additional 488,617 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,197,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $704,170,000 after acquiring an additional 172,200 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in General Mills by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,837,490 shares of the company's stock valued at $457,443,000 after acquiring an additional 200,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $361,552,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total transaction of $342,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 86,002 shares in the company, valued at $2,947,288.54. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 transaction of $275,827.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 62,283 shares in the company, valued at $2,148,763.50. This represents a 11.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GIS. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of General Mills from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Evercore set a $45.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and seven have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $39.39.

General Mills Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $34.27 on Tuesday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.75 and a 12 month high of $54.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $34.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.86. The firm has a market cap of $18.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38 and a beta of -0.03.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About General Mills

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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