Advocate Group LLC Acquires 70,119 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Advocate Group LLC grew its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 535,589 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,119 shares during the quarter. General Mills comprises 7.2% of Advocate Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Advocate Group LLC owned approximately 0.10% of General Mills worth $39,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in General Mills by 16.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,219,113,000 after buying an additional 8,444,312 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in General Mills by 22.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $955,118,000 after buying an additional 2,488,341 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in General Mills by 100.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,728,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,138,000 after buying an additional 2,368,563 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in General Mills by 6,140.4% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 945,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,807,000 after buying an additional 930,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in General Mills during the first quarter worth about $36,177,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:GIS traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $72.46. 372,026 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,924,788. The company’s 50 day moving average is $72.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.15. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $40.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 9,647 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $717,640.33. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 128,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,571,314.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 9,647 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $717,640.33. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 128,664 shares in the company, valued at $9,571,314.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $173,514.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,700,411.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on General Mills in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.73.

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.