General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by Optimist Retirement Group LLC

Optimist Retirement Group LLC cut its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,555 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,807 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 1.1% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $999,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in General Mills by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GIS. Citigroup cut 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 note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.94.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $59.60 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.94 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $62.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

General Mills 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.