Diversify Advisory Services LLC Decreases Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 19.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,562 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,046 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in General Mills by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 403,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,554,000 after acquiring an additional 47,239 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 6.4% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 42,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 2,528 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 47.2% in the second quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 7,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 2,312 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 92,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,831,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 746 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Trading Up 0.8 %

General Mills stock opened at $60.08 on Wednesday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.94 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a market capitalization of $33.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.11. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.53. 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 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 company had revenue of $5.24 billion for 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%. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.99%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.