Stiles Financial Services Inc Sells 1,608 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Stiles Financial Services Inc reduced its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,995 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,608 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills in the third quarter worth $27,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake in General Mills by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America upgraded General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.94.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE GIS opened at $58.86 on Monday. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.94 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $62.31 and a 200-day moving average of $67.14. The company has a market capitalization of $32.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 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 (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

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.