General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by BDF Gestion

BDF Gestion trimmed its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,772 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,387 shares during the quarter. BDF Gestion’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $999,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.8% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC increased its position in General Mills by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 1.7% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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. TD Cowen reduced their target price on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upgraded General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.94.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock opened at $59.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.94 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.11. The business’s 50-day moving average is $63.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.42.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

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.