Cerity Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 30.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 182,649 shares of the company's stock after selling 81,389 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $10,921,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in General Mills in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 69.2% in the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 516 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in shares of General Mills by 1,096.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 598 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Performance

GIS stock traded down $0.94 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.03. 4,877,109 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,712,791. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $53.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.43. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.86 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The firm has a market cap of $27.14 billion and a P/E ratio of 12.20.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%. The business's revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.88%. This is an increase from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on GIS. Wall Street Zen upgraded General Mills from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and set a $51.00 price objective (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $53.00 price target on shares of General Mills and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.73.

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.