Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 54,487 General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 54,487 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,475,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GIS. RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 23,061 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,471,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,579 shares of the company's stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,916 shares of the company's stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho cut their price target on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group assumed coverage on General Mills in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "sell" rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.69.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $55.14. The company had a trading volume of 3,904,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,483,323. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $57.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.95. The stock has a market cap of $30.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.93 and a twelve month high of $75.90.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About General Mills

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.