Avestar Capital LLC Purchases 285 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Avestar Capital LLC raised its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,891 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 61.5% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Down 1.2 %

General Mills stock opened at $58.85 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $32.44 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.88. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.85 and a 12 month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on GIS. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reduced 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.