Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 12,496 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lowered its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 197,658 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,496 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $12,605,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in General Mills by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in General Mills by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $59.94 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.94 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $63.23 and a 200-day moving average of $67.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.11.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on GIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lowered their target price on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.94.

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.