Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Sells 27,357 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 63.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,757 shares of the company's stock after selling 27,357 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 834,417 shares of the company's stock worth $53,211,000 after purchasing an additional 85,612 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in General Mills by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 484,550 shares of the company's stock worth $30,900,000 after buying an additional 46,536 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in General Mills by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,123,387 shares of the company's stock worth $581,903,000 after buying an additional 2,341,137 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 72,949 shares of the company's stock worth $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 4,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $486,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GIS. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho cut their target price on General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group reduced their price target on General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.73.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $51.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $28.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.02. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $50.19 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The business's 50 day moving average price is $54.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.15. 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 (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. General Mills's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.70%. This is a positive change from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.75%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.