General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Kovack Advisors Inc. has reduced its stake in General Mills, Inc. by 47.9%, retaining 6,826 shares valued at approximately $408,000.
• General Mills has experienced mixed ratings from analysts, with Goldman Sachs downgrading its rating from "buy" to "neutral" and setting a target price of $58.00.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.61 per share, marking a positive change from the previous dividend of $0.60, with a yield of 4.77%.

Kovack Advisors Inc. cut its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 47.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,826 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,283 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in General Mills in the first quarter valued at $279,570,000. Burney Co. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 16.6% in the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 12,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 1,827 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 2.5% in the first quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 13,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 348.7% in the first quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 33,053 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,976,000 after purchasing an additional 25,687 shares during the period. Finally, M. Kulyk & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 9.3% in the first quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 83,477 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,991,000 after purchasing an additional 7,071 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded General Mills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised 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 report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.73.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $51.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.72 billion and a PE ratio of 12.46. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $52.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.77%. General Mills's payout ratio is 59.51%.

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.

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