Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Has $430,000 Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. cut its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,143 shares of the company’s stock after selling 316 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills by 199.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills by 409.8% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. RFP Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills by 66.3% in the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its position in shares of General Mills by 769.2% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GIS. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.82.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $50,104.70. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE:GIS traded up $1.68 on Wednesday, reaching $65.67. 2,054,383 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,089,089. The company has a market capitalization of $36.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.33 and a 12 month high of $77.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.51.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 26.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. Equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 55.68%.

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