Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $26.80 Million Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 420,216 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,156 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $26,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GIS. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $243,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $752,000 after buying an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in General Mills by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 96,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,117,000 after buying an additional 5,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 20,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at $22,967,490. This represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 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 sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $59.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $32.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.67. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $55.15 and a one year high of $75.90.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of 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. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.71.

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.