Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC reduced its stake in General Mills, Inc. by 39.0%, owning 14,694 shares valued at $761,000 after selling 9,410 shares in the second quarter.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on General Mills, with target prices ranging from $47.00 to $63.00, while the stock holds an average rating of "Hold" with a consensus target price of $55.82.
• General Mills announced a quarterly dividend of $0.61 per share, representing an annual yield of 4.8%, to be paid on November 3rd to shareholders of record on October 10th.

Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC lessened its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 39.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,694 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,410 shares during the quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 434.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,041,194 shares of the company's stock worth $1,138,473,000 after buying an additional 15,480,835 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 8.1% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,864,819 shares of the company's stock worth $589,814,000 after acquiring an additional 741,432 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 4.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 7,161,951 shares of the company's stock worth $428,213,000 after purchasing an additional 315,375 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in General Mills by 10.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,986,128 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,674,000 after purchasing an additional 634,393 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,403,879 shares of the company's stock valued at $382,888,000 after purchasing an additional 414,768 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GIS shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group reduced their target price on General Mills from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of General Mills in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total value of $200,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,332,313.72. The trade was a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $50.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company's 50-day moving average price is $49.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.05. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.29 and a 52 week high of $73.78. The stock has a market cap of $26.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of -0.03.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.52 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date 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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