General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,807 shares of the company’s stock after selling 468 shares during the quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $722,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Adviser Investments LLC bought a new position in General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $323,000. Sabal Trust CO lifted its holdings in General Mills by 7,817.6% during the 4th quarter. Sabal Trust CO now owns 290,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,902,000 after buying an additional 286,514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GIS. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $72.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.18.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,523,044.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value of $492,094.65. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 77,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,057,820 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $70.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.31. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $60.33 and a 52-week high of $90.89.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. General Mills’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.13%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.