PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. Trims Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. reduced its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,331 shares of the company’s stock after selling 268 shares during the quarter. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 46.7% in the third quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,541 shares of company stock valued at $3,321,170. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. Bank of America raised shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on General Mills from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.31.

General Mills Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of GIS stock opened at $59.38 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $32.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.27 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The company 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 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. Research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.