Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 900,591 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 73,867 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $57,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in General Mills by 105.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,552,000 after buying an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,474,177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867,678 shares during the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 3,504.8% during the 4th quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 2,164,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,023,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104,353 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,376,573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868,508 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Trading Down 1.0 %

GIS opened at $59.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.15 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.74.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued 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. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. One 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.69.

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.