PDS Planning Inc Purchases 626 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

PDS Planning Inc raised its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,078 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in General Mills were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Operose Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 214.1% in the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $70.82 on Wednesday. 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 $40.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.15. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.45. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.33 and a 12 month high of $90.89.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The business’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.13%.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total transaction of $692,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 93,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,462,899.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 17,726 shares of company stock valued at $1,187,811 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $77.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.18.

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.