Eastern Bank Decreases Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Eastern Bank reduced its stake in General Mills, Inc. by 23.2%, selling 5,762 shares and leaving it with 19,055 shares valued at $987,000.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings on General Mills, with four buy ratings, thirteen hold ratings, and two sell ratings, leading to an average target price of $55.82.
• General Mills has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, with a yield of 4.9%, payable on November 3rd to investors of record.

Eastern Bank trimmed its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,055 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,762 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank's holdings in General Mills were worth $987,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills during the 2nd quarter valued at $222,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in General Mills by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 522,576 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,245,000 after purchasing an additional 35,494 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in General Mills by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 452,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,076,000 after purchasing an additional 32,628 shares during the period. Rock Point Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at $3,610,000. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its position in General Mills by 126.1% during the 1st quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 774,134 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,285,000 after purchasing an additional 431,693 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total transaction of $200,160.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 66,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,332,313.72. This represents a 5.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GIS. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Bernstein Bank reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $45.00 target price (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of General Mills from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.82.

General Mills Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:GIS opened at $49.37 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $49.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.71. The company has a market capitalization of $26.33 billion, a PE ratio of 9.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of -0.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.40. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.29 and a 1-year high of $72.55.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. General Mills had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. General Mills's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is 46.12%.

General Mills 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.

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