Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $26.80 Million Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 420,216 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,156 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned 0.08% of General Mills worth $26,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GIS. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the third quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth $243,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $752,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in General Mills by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 96,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,117,000 after acquiring an additional 5,371 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 20,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,489,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Down 0.5 %

GIS opened at $59.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.15 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.