Kovack Advisors Inc. Increases Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,505 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 749 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Operose Advisors LLC increased its position in General Mills by 214.1% in the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total transaction of $692,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,462,899.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 17,726 shares of company stock worth $1,187,811 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GIS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup began coverage on General Mills in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.18.

General Mills Trading Down 0.8 %

GIS traded down $0.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $70.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,170,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,758,869. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $67.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.58. 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 stock has a market cap of $40.22 billion, a PE ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 2.46 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.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.33%. General Mills’s 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.