Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC Sells 765 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,870 shares of the company’s stock after selling 765 shares during the period. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in General Mills in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in 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 bought a new position in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $59.94 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.42. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.94 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.11.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

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.