Kovack Advisors Inc. Sells 1,081 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Kovack Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 13,109 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,081 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co boosted its stake in General Mills by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co now owns 4,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 221,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,120,000 after buying an additional 3,700 shares during the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $762,000. Convergence Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Convergence Financial LLC now owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares during the period. Finally, Impact Investors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $358,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen cut 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 note on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.06.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $59.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.33. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $55.15 and a one year high of $75.90. The firm has a market cap of $33.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.10.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company 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 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.