Perkins Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Perkins Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,325 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Perkins Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in General Mills by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,630,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,376,573,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868,508 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $532,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 808,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,569,000 after purchasing an additional 20,734 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,517,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth approximately $607,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE GIS opened at $58.78 on Monday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.15 and a 12 month high of $75.90. 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 stock has a market cap of $32.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $60.00 and its 200 day moving average is $65.17.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 4.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GIS. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen cut their price objective 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. Bank of America decreased their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Citigroup lowered their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.53.

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.