CENTRAL TRUST Co Lowers Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

CENTRAL TRUST Co lowered its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 63,739 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,433 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in General Mills were worth $4,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 1.7% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 46.7% in the third quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GIS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.94.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE GIS opened at $60.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $62.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.94 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued 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 3.99%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.