General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by Fruth Investment Management

Fruth Investment Management trimmed its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 26,080 shares of the company’s stock after selling 185 shares during the period. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in General Mills by 22.1% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 237,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,565,000 after purchasing an additional 43,086 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 105.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,552,000 after buying an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth about $547,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 129.9% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,649,000 after acquiring an additional 104,436 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in General Mills by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,058,414 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GIS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup dropped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.94.

General Mills Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE GIS opened at $59.60 on Thursday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.94 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a market capitalization of $32.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.27.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

General Mills Company 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.