West Oak Capital LLC Acquires 544 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

West Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,544 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 0.5% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 54,713,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,196,559,000 after purchasing an additional 279,268 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in General Mills by 0.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,076,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,536,986,000 after buying an additional 216,622 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 123,599.0% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,076,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $928,723,000 after buying an additional 11,067,051 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,852,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $734,907,000 after acquiring an additional 75,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of General Mills by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,249,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $691,725,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051,169 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,523,044.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,602,574.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 77,782 shares of company stock worth $5,057,820 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup initiated coverage on General Mills in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Finally, HSBC increased their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.18.

General Mills Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:GIS traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $70.30. 1,361,244 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,276,320. The stock has a market cap of $39.92 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.15. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.33 and a twelve month high of $90.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.01 and a 200 day moving average of $64.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 54.13%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.