General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by Sovereign Financial Group Inc.

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,207 shares of the company’s stock after selling 648 shares during the quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 6.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 589,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,287,000 after purchasing an additional 35,680 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 11,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 49,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,110,000 after buying an additional 5,025 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in General Mills by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,560,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,210,000 after buying an additional 76,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.8% during the second 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of GIS stock opened at $58.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.27 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.64.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total transaction of $3,190,365.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now 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. Insiders sold 48,541 shares of company stock worth $3,321,170 over the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on General Mills from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America raised shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.31.

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 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.