Mizuho Securities USA LLC Sells 7,436 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lessened its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 17.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,094 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,436 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in General Mills in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Foundation Advisors lifted its holdings in General Mills by 400.0% in the second quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its position in General Mills by 61.5% during the third 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 last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 559 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GIS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.67.

General Mills Stock Up 1.4 %

General Mills stock opened at $65.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $69.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.47 and a 1-year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total transaction of $3,190,365.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 355,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $173,514.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,700,411.92. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 67,555 shares of company stock worth $4,721,336. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.