Coston McIsaac & Partners Lowers Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Coston McIsaac & Partners decreased its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,978 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,537 shares during the quarter. General Mills accounts for approximately 1.2% of Coston McIsaac & Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Coston McIsaac & Partners’ holdings in General Mills were worth $4,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in General Mills by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,058,414 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in General Mills by 105.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,474,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867,678 shares in the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. increased its position in shares of General Mills by 3,504.8% during the 4th quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 2,164,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,023,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 6,114.0% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays reduced their price objective on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.94.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock opened at $59.94 on Thursday. 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 market capitalization of $33.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $63.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.42. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.94 and a 52-week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

General Mills Company 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.