General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by Pinnacle Associates Ltd.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. reduced its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 9.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,071 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,737 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $4,608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 69.2% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 516 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1,096.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 598 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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. 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. Bank of America decreased their price target on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded General Mills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Three research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.73.

General Mills Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:GIS opened at $51.10 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $52.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.72 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.67. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 11.78%. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.77%. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.51%.

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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