Private Advisor Group LLC Lowers Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Private Advisor Group LLC lowered its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 19.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 101,485 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,931 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $7,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the third quarter worth about $746,000. Eastern Bank increased its position in shares of General Mills by 434.2% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 24,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 20,090 shares during the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 27.9% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $173,514.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,700,411.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,379,054.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $173,514.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,700,411.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,555 shares of company stock worth $4,657,676 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on General Mills from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on General Mills in a report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.00.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $68.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.19. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.47 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion for 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%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.68%.

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.