General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 9.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,741 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,968 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in General Mills by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 10,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 17,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 40.6% in the 1st quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 5,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 48,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,370,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total value of $50,104.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of General Mills in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on General Mills from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Mizuho dropped their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded General Mills from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $62.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.82.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS traded up $0.56 during trading on Monday, reaching $66.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,031,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,067,918. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $37.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.09. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $60.33 and a one year high of $75.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $65.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.55.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The business’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 55.68%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.