General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Stock Holdings Cut by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 9.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,480 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,729 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $999,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 4.9% during the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 5.0% during the second quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 8,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total value of $3,190,365.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total value of $576,156.24. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,055,870.64. This represents a 35.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,555 shares of company stock worth $4,657,676. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. TD Cowen increased their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.67.

General Mills Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $63.21 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $35.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.84. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.47 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is 57.14%.

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.