Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Sells 62,634 Shares of General Mills, Inc. $GIS

Key Points

• Pinnacle Associates Ltd. sharply cut its General Mills stake by 87% in the fourth quarter, selling 62,634 shares and leaving it with 9,370 shares worth about $436,000.
• General Mills reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.64 versus the $0.73 consensus and revenue of $4.44 billion, down 8.4% from a year earlier.
• Analysts are turning more cautious on GIS, with several firms trimming price targets; the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $42.44.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 87.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,370 shares of the company's stock after selling 62,634 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.'s holdings in General Mills were worth $436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 2nd quarter valued at about $84,862,000. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in General Mills by 82.8% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 3,415,818 shares of the company's stock worth $172,226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,546,993 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in General Mills by 22.2% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,628,421 shares of the company's stock worth $384,625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383,913 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in General Mills by 13.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,664,990 shares of the company's stock worth $386,469,000 after acquiring an additional 883,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in General Mills by 1,824.7% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 895,225 shares of the company's stock worth $41,628,000 after acquiring an additional 848,712 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Trading Up 1.4%

GIS opened at $33.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18 and a beta of -0.02. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $36.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.76. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $32.79 and a one year high of $55.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.56.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.09). General Mills had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 12.05%.The business had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. General Mills's revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.43 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GIS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on General Mills from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on General Mills from $42.00 to $36.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on General Mills from $38.00 to $32.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $41.00 to $36.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $42.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ricardo Fernandez sold 7,995 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total transaction of $275,827.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 62,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,148,763.50. This trade represents a 11.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total transaction of $342,700.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 86,002 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,947,288.54. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc NYSE: GIS is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company's portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.

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