Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Acquires 397 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 0.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 57,490 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $4,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,219,113,000 after purchasing an additional 8,444,312 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in General Mills by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $955,118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,488,341 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,413,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,478,000 after acquiring an additional 148,235 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 100.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,728,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,368,563 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GIS. TD Cowen lifted their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on General Mills in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total value of $576,156.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,055,870.64. The trade was a 35.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $3,190,365.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,657,676 in the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Mills Stock Performance

General Mills stock traded down $1.53 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $63.18. 556,716 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,877,663. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.47 and a 1 year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

About General Mills

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.