Rafferty Asset Management LLC Raises Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,185 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,220 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $3,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $496,484,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in General Mills by 105.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company's stock worth $421,552,000 after buying an additional 2,926,232 shares in 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 buying an additional 2,341,137 shares during the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 3,504.8% in the 4th quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 2,164,395 shares of the company's stock worth $138,023,000 after buying an additional 2,104,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of General Mills by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,376,573,000 after buying an additional 1,868,508 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $55.14 on Monday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $57.43 and its 200 day moving average is $60.76. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.93 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $30.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.05.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GIS. Barclays cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America cut their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group started coverage on General Mills in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "sell" rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.69.

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.

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