Independent Advisor Alliance Trims Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Independent Advisor Alliance cut its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,797 shares of the company’s stock after selling 599 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 100.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,728,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,368,563 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in General Mills by 6,140.4% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 945,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,807,000 after buying an additional 930,271 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in General Mills during the first quarter worth about $36,177,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in General Mills by 6,114.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 450,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,266,000 after buying an additional 443,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in General Mills by 6.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,629,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,151,000 after buying an additional 323,090 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $173,514.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at $2,700,411.92. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 67,555 shares of company stock worth $4,721,336 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE GIS opened at $65.53 on Tuesday. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.47 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $69.46 and a 200-day moving average of $68.59. The firm has a market cap of $36.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.11.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on General Mills in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.67.

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.