Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. Sells 17,253 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 257,236 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,253 shares during the period. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $16,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 23,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, 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 value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on General Mills in a report on Monday, March 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $53.00 price target for the company. Bank of America lowered their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.69.

General Mills Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $57.52 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $59.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.95. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.15 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $31.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.75%.

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.