D.A. Davidson & CO. Trims Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 76,476 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,858 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $4,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of General Mills by 9.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,474,177,000 after buying an additional 2,867,678 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of General Mills by 64.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of General Mills by 105.2% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of General Mills by 7.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,823,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,347,000 after buying an additional 263,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc increased its position in shares of General Mills by 3.9% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 2,492,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,778,000 after buying an additional 92,931 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE GIS opened at $57.94 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.15 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho lowered their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Company 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.