Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Boosts Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 23.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,739 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,870 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $2,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.6% during the fourth 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. grew its position in General Mills by 0.8% during the fourth 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 period. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,579 shares of the company's stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,916 shares of the company's stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on GIS. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "sell" rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on General Mills in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.00.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $54.52. 4,888,864 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,450,207. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.82 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The company's 50 day moving average price is $58.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.85, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. General Mills's revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.