Stiles Financial Services Inc Trims Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Stiles Financial Services Inc trimmed its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,995 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,608 shares during the quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $708,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 79.5% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 143,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,138,000 after purchasing an additional 63,456 shares in the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 9,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at $432,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,504,000 after buying an additional 1,761 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Down 0.6 %

GIS stock opened at $58.86 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $32.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, 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. The business’s 50-day moving average is $62.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.14. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.94 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 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 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GIS. Citigroup reduced their price target on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” 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 raised their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. 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, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.94.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.