D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 2,686 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lessened its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 78,334 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,686 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $5,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 100.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,728,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,138,000 after buying an additional 2,368,563 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 6,140.4% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 945,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,807,000 after acquiring an additional 930,271 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the first quarter worth approximately $36,177,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 443,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,629,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,151,000 after purchasing an additional 323,090 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on GIS shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on General Mills in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.67.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $66.23 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $69.12 and its 200 day moving average is $68.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market cap of $36.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.47 and a twelve month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 57.14%.

Insider Activity

In other General Mills news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $173,514.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,700,411.92. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $3,190,365.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares in the company, valued at $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 67,555 shares of company stock worth $4,721,336. 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.