Trust Co. of Vermont Raises Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,770 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 9.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,474,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867,678 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in General Mills by 64.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,054,000 after buying an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in General Mills by 105.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,629,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,151,000 after acquiring an additional 323,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 7.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,823,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,347,000 after acquiring an additional 263,188 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 48,541 shares of company stock worth $3,321,170. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Mills Trading Up 0.8 %

GIS stock opened at $59.64 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $63.76 and its 200 day moving average is $67.49. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.94 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The stock has a market cap of $32.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.31.

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.