Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Sells 215 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. decreased its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,292 shares of the company’s stock after selling 215 shares during the quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 3,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in General Mills by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 127,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares during the period. Morton Community Bank increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Morton Community Bank now owns 39,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 33,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,119,000 after buying an additional 3,434 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 13,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Down 4.8 %

NYSE GIS opened at $62.15 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.87. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.15 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The stock has a market cap of $34.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America reduced their price target on General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays reduced their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.24.

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.