Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Has $727,000 Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP lowered its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,157 shares of the company’s stock after selling 529 shares during the quarter. General Mills accounts for 0.9% of Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in General Mills were worth $727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC increased its position in General Mills by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 904 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its position in General Mills by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 4,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in General Mills by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 72,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,600,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its position in General Mills by 142.1% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 4,068 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value of $492,094.65. Following the sale, the insider now owns 102,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,726 shares of company stock valued at $1,187,811. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. TD Cowen raised their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. HSBC raised their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup assumed coverage on General Mills in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.18.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS traded up $0.79 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $71.61. 4,415,968 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,277,180. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.33 and a 52-week high of $90.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $67.17 and a 200-day moving average of $65.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.15.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.