Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,947 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,017 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,947 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 214.1% during the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.18.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total transaction of $692,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,462,899.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 77,782 shares of company stock worth $5,057,820 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:GIS opened at $67.82 on Wednesday. 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 market cap of $38.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.15. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.33 and a 52 week high of $90.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.19.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

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