Equitable Trust Co. Has $688,000 Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Equitable Trust Co. trimmed its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 80.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,789 shares of the company’s stock after selling 45,670 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,054,000 after buying an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 105.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,552,000 after buying an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,474,177,000 after buying an additional 2,867,678 shares during the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 3,504.8% during the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 2,164,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,023,000 after buying an additional 2,104,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $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 and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $58.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.85 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.17%.

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.