General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,009,915 shares of the company's stock after selling 103,344 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.18% of General Mills worth $65,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 0.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,242,274 shares of the company's stock worth $527,423,000 after acquiring an additional 23,400 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in General Mills by 5.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,995,118 shares of the company's stock valued at $511,608,000 after buying an additional 379,702 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,527,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $468,346,000 after buying an additional 44,933 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in General Mills by 48.7% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,051,607 shares of the company's stock valued at $325,728,000 after buying an additional 1,654,111 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in General Mills by 2.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,102,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $262,519,000 after buying an additional 96,935 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the sale, the insider now owns 102,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,726 shares of company stock valued at $1,187,811. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on General Mills in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. HSBC boosted their price objective on General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $72.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.18.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE:GIS traded up $0.79 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $71.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,415,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,277,180. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.33 and a 12 month high of $90.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $67.17 and a 200-day moving average of $65.45. The firm has a market cap of $40.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 EPS 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 analysts' expectations of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is presently 54.13%.

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