Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 2,132 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 189,048 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,132 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $12,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in General Mills by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 42,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after buying an additional 2,528 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in General Mills by 0.6% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 92,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,831,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 70.3% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 21,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 8,887 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 59.5% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 108,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,840,000 after acquiring an additional 40,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 340,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,536,000 after purchasing an additional 12,128 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % 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.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $59.62 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $63.47 and a 200 day moving average of $67.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $32.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.94 and a 52 week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America raised General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.31.

About General Mills

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.