Sigma Planning Corp Trims Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Sigma Planning Corp trimmed its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 46.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 25,474 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,351 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cypress Capital LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 39,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,525,000 after buying an additional 9,531 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 674,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,028,000 after purchasing an additional 31,577 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 90,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,775,000 after purchasing an additional 15,936 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. increased its position in General Mills by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 63,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,018,000 after purchasing an additional 31,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in General Mills by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 350,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,347,000 after buying an additional 55,268 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GIS shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped 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. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.88.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $61.02 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $33.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.53. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.15 and a 12 month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.