General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in General Mills by 9.3%, owning 179,698 shares valued at approximately $10.74 million.
• General Mills recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.61, up from $0.60, resulting in an annual yield of 4.9%.
• Analysts have lowered their target prices for General Mills, with an average consensus target price now at $59.73, reflecting a cautious outlook.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 179,698 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,428 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in General Mills were worth $10,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 69.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on GIS. Barclays reduced their target price on General Mills from $60.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on General Mills from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group reduced their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut General Mills from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $68.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $51.00 target price (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.73.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $49.65 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.59 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business's fifty day moving average price is $51.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.93 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of -0.01.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $0.61 dividend. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. General Mills's dividend 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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