General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System reduced its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 157,682 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,353 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in General Mills were worth $10,055,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 5.5% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 9.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 103,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,076,000 after buying an additional 9,119 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the third quarter worth about $44,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 5.4% during the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Marks Group Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in General Mills during the third quarter valued at approximately $217,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective 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. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America cut their price target on General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $62.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.06. The company has a market capitalization of $34.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.15 and a 1 year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

General Mills 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.