Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Increases Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 320,595 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,564 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV owned about 0.06% of General Mills worth $20,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $496,484,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in General Mills by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in General Mills by 105.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 3,504.8% during the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 2,164,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,023,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,353 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,376,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868,508 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock opened at $55.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $59.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.98. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $55.01 and a one year high of $75.90. The company has a market capitalization of $30.64 billion, a PE ratio of 12.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup cut 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. Mizuho lowered their price target on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on General Mills in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.00.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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 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.