Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Trims Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,703 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,198 shares during the period. General Mills comprises approximately 1.5% of Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $6,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GIS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in General Mills by 16.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,219,113,000 after buying an additional 8,444,312 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in General Mills by 22.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $955,118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,488,341 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in General Mills by 6.1% in the second 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of General Mills by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,413,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,478,000 after buying an additional 148,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,362,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,459,000 after buying an additional 369,628 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,700,411.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at $2,700,411.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total value of $576,156.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,055,870.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,657,676. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GIS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price target for the company. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Mizuho cut their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.00.

General Mills Trading Down 0.5 %

GIS stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $68.30. 2,183,941 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,890,381. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $72.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.18. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.47 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.68%.

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.