General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Montgomery Investment Management Inc.

Montgomery Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 126,043 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,300 shares during the period. General Mills makes up 2.5% of Montgomery Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Montgomery Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $8,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 1.9% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Adviser Investments LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the third quarter worth about $323,000. Sabal Trust CO boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 7,817.6% in the 4th quarter. Sabal Trust CO now owns 290,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,902,000 after purchasing an additional 286,514 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 2,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup assumed coverage on General Mills in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.18.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,523,044.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,782 shares of company stock valued at $5,057,820 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE GIS traded down $0.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $66.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,428,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,283,533. The firm has a market cap of $37.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.33 and a 52 week high of $90.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $66.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.13.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 54.13%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.