General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas decreased its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 13.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,624 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,030 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in General Mills were worth $4,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its position in General Mills by 69.2% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 516 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in General Mills in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $51.60. The stock had a trading volume of 4,847,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,699,049. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.86 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The firm's 50 day moving average is $53.56 and its 200-day moving average is $57.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.99 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. General Mills had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 24.88%. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a $0.61 dividend. This is a boost from General Mills's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.73%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GIS shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $51.00 target price (down from $53.00) on shares of General Mills in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of General Mills from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $67.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of General Mills from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of 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. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $52.00 to $49.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.73.

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.