Forte Capital LLC ADV Sells 2,218 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Forte Capital LLC ADV trimmed its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 25,617 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,218 shares during the quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 22.1% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 237,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,565,000 after purchasing an additional 43,086 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in General Mills by 105.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. J2 Capital Management Inc bought a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $547,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 129.9% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,649,000 after acquiring an additional 104,436 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $59.15 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $32.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.15 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.61.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GIS. Citigroup reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.88.

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.