Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Cuts Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. trimmed its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 401,196 shares of the company’s stock after selling 63,200 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $25,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $496,484,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in General Mills by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,054,000 after buying an additional 3,058,414 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position 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. Nepsis Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 3,504.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of General Mills by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,376,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868,508 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Down 0.4 %

General Mills stock opened at $56.16 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.40. The company has a market capitalization of $30.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.15 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley began coverage on General Mills in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, March 17th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.00.

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.