Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Reduces Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp decreased its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 66,489 shares of the company’s stock after selling 545 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in General Mills were worth $4,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. First Foundation Advisors grew its position in General Mills by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in General Mills by 61.5% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GIS. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America raised shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup raised their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.00.

General Mills Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:GIS opened at $66.69 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $67.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.21. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.47 and a 52 week high of $75.90. 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 capitalization of $37.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,379,054.08. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 67,555 shares of company stock worth $4,721,336. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.