Empirical Finance LLC Sells 279 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Empirical Finance LLC decreased its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 19,881 shares of the company’s stock after selling 279 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GIS. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America upgraded General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.94.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock opened at $58.86 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $32.45 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.94 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $62.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.14. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 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.