General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by Advocate Group LLC

Advocate Group LLC cut its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 523,124 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,465 shares during the quarter. General Mills accounts for 6.3% of Advocate Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Advocate Group LLC owned 0.09% of General Mills worth $33,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GIS. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 22.1% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 237,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,565,000 after purchasing an additional 43,086 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 buying an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $547,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in General Mills by 129.9% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,649,000 after buying an additional 104,436 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake 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 valued at $497,054,000 after buying an additional 3,058,414 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $60.37 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.38. The company has a market cap of $33.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.12, a PEG ratio of 3.70 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.94 and a 1 year high of $75.90.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America upgraded 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 report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.94.

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.