General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening Sells 11,379 Shares

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,967,490. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded up $0.65 during trading on Monday, hitting $65.15. 8,842,476 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,989,175. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.97. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.15 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The company has a market cap of $35.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given 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 yield of 3.68%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 3.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 792,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,563,000 after acquiring an additional 27,847 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 8.7% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 6,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth about $286,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in General Mills by 70.0% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 24,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,790,000 after buying an additional 9,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 563,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,606,000 after buying an additional 9,722 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GIS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 note on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 note on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays dropped their price target on 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. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.65.

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.