Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Sells 2,196 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lowered its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,093 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,196 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $4,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 22.1% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 237,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,565,000 after purchasing an additional 43,086 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 105.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $547,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 129.9% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,649,000 after purchasing an additional 104,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in General Mills by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,054,000 after buying an additional 3,058,414 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $58.86 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $62.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.12. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.94 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The company has a market cap of $32.45 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company 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 company posted $1.25 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on GIS. TD Cowen decreased their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.94.

About General Mills

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.