Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Reduces Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. reduced its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,708 shares of the company’s stock after selling 657 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in General Mills by 70.3% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 21,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 8,887 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 39,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,480,000 after buying an additional 5,849 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 0.8% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,368,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.9% in the second quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 13,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the second quarter valued at $3,202,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup cut their price objective on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.94.

General Mills Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $59.94 on Thursday. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.94 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $33.04 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $63.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.42.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.