Cerity Partners LLC Raises Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 25.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,554 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 22,938 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $7,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 4.8% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 22,026 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 45.3% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,867 shares of the company's stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,828 shares during the period. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its holdings in General Mills by 2.1% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 73,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,955,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in General Mills by 2.3% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 279,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,935,000 after acquiring an additional 6,176 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in General Mills by 15.3% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,834 shares of the company's stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

General Mills Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of GIS stock traded up $0.50 on Tuesday, reaching $67.82. 4,205,225 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,312,962. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.33 and a 52 week high of $90.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.15. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $66.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.19.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. General Mills's quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. General Mills's payout ratio is currently 54.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $72.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on General Mills in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $72.18.

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.