Raymond James Trust N.A. Sells 4,977 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Raymond James Trust N.A. lowered its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,110 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,977 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $11,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $999,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in General Mills by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in General Mills by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 8,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total transaction of $576,156.24. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,055,870.64. This represents a 35.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 67,555 shares of company stock worth $4,721,336 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GIS shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One 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, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.67.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $64.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $35.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.47 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $69.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

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.