General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Position Decreased by Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.

Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. lowered its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,173 shares of the company’s stock after selling 990 shares during the period. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GIS. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In related news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of General Mills 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % 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 Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $59.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.09. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.85 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The firm has a market cap of $32.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 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.

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 net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. 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 company earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio 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.