Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,070,006 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,132 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.20% of General Mills worth $55,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 0.4% during the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 52,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its holdings in General Mills by 0.8% in the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 24,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills by 1.5% in the first quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 13,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $804,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. lifted its stake in General Mills by 5.0% in the second quarter. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. now owns 4,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 15th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of General Mills in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on General Mills from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Bernstein Bank lowered their price objective on General Mills from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.82.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total value of $200,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 66,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,332,313.72. This represents a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Up 2.0%

GIS opened at $46.89 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.80 and a 52 week high of $67.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $49.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.12. The firm has a market cap of $25.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of -0.04.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.52 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 46.12%.

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.