UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Increases Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,846,576 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 561,731 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 1.24% of General Mills worth $436,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company's stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 834,417 shares of the company's stock worth $53,211,000 after purchasing an additional 85,612 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 2,926,232 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in General Mills by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 484,550 shares of the company's stock worth $30,900,000 after purchasing an additional 46,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in 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. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "sell" rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.69.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded up $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $53.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,804,514 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,532,123. The company has a 50-day moving average of $56.81 and a 200-day moving average of $60.37. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.39 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $29.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.05.

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

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.