D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $3.99 Million Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 12.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,716 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,760 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $3,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 2.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 776,809 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,445,000 after buying an additional 17,289 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its position in General Mills by 126.1% during the first quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 62,712 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,521,000 after buying an additional 34,973 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the first quarter valued at $402,000. Kanawha Capital Management LLC raised its position in General Mills by 17.1% during the first quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 3,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the period. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in General Mills during the first quarter valued at $152,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group decreased their price target on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $51.00 price target (down previously from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.73.

General Mills Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $53.13. The company had a trading volume of 3,595,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,652,483. The stock has a market cap of $28.82 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $50.19 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.87.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.54%.

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.