HM Payson & Co. Sells 2,209 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

HM Payson & Co. decreased its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,647 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,209 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 4.9% in the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its position in General Mills by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc increased its stake in General Mills by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 8,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its position in General Mills by 0.3% in the first quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 56,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,964,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.3% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 13,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS opened at $68.01 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $37.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.18. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.47 and a 12-month high of $75.90.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. Research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is 57.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total transaction of $3,190,365.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares in the company, valued at $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total transaction of $3,190,365.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total transaction of $576,156.24. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,055,870.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 66,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,657,676. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on GIS. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of General Mills from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen raised their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on General Mills from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

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.