Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,261 shares of the company’s stock after selling 505 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in General Mills by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,219,113,000 after purchasing an additional 8,444,312 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 22.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $955,118,000 after acquiring an additional 2,488,341 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 6.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,629,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,151,000 after acquiring an additional 323,090 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,413,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,478,000 after acquiring an additional 148,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 7.4% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,362,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,459,000 after acquiring an additional 369,628 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $68.58 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market cap of $38.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.91, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.47 and a 12-month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 55.68%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total value of $576,156.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,055,870.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total value of $576,156.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,055,870.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 9,647 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $717,640.33. Following the sale, the insider now owns 128,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,571,314.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,055 shares of company stock worth $1,467,311. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, September 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of General Mills in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.00.

General Mills Company 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 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.