Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA Sells 5,865 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lowered its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 48.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,335 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,865 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA's holdings in General Mills were worth $379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Perpetual Ltd raised its position in shares of General Mills by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 5,411 shares of the company's stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC now owns 871 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. City Center Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 3.4% in the first quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 6,071 shares of the company's stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Security National Bank of SO Dak raised its holdings in General Mills by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak now owns 31,290 shares of the company's stock worth $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Canopy Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the company's stock worth $332,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE GIS opened at $50.51 on Monday. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $50.19 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $54.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.02.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's payout ratio is presently 52.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on GIS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup dropped their price target 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. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.73.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.