Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Invests $51,000 in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in General Mills by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,219,113,000 after purchasing an additional 8,444,312 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in General Mills by 22.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $955,118,000 after buying an additional 2,488,341 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in General Mills by 6.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,629,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,151,000 after buying an additional 323,090 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in General Mills by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,413,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,478,000 after buying an additional 148,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 100.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,728,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,368,563 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $173,514.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,700,411.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total value of $173,514.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,700,411.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total transaction of $3,190,365.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,657,676 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Mills Stock Performance

NYSE GIS opened at $65.24 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $36.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.47 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $71.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.96.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on General Mills in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

General Mills Company 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.