Columbia Asset Management Sells 2,200 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Columbia Asset Management cut its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 26,258 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,200 shares during the period. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 24,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,775,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in General Mills by 53.5% during the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 33,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,485,000 after buying an additional 11,735 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in General Mills in the third quarter worth about $4,015,000. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in General Mills in the third quarter valued at about $272,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,867,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,903,000 after acquiring an additional 241,567 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE GIS opened at $59.70 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.42. 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 1 year low of $55.15 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.91 billion, a PE ratio of 12.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.04. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GIS shares. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays cut their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.69.

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.