Vaughan David Investments LLC IL Buys 15,270 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL boosted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 510,936 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,270 shares during the quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL owned about 0.09% of General Mills worth $33,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Klingman & Associates LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 5,204 shares of the company's stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in General Mills by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,617 shares of the company's stock valued at $943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 7,690 shares of the company's stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, Kennedy Investment Group boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 33,566 shares of the company's stock worth $2,186,000 after buying an additional 2,373 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,057,820 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. TD Cowen increased their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup initiated coverage on General Mills in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $72.18.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS stock traded down $0.80 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $66.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,346,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,311,701. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $66.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.13. The company has a market capitalization of $37.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.15. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $90.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. The company's revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.13%.

General Mills Company 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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GIS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.