MML Investors Services LLC Has $9.44 Million Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

MML Investors Services LLC lessened its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 127,782 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,309 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $9,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 36,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,309,000 after acquiring an additional 10,765 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 237,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,565,000 after buying an additional 43,086 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of General Mills by 129.9% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,649,000 after purchasing an additional 104,436 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 105.8% in the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 144,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,697,000 after purchasing an additional 74,456 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,206,000 after purchasing an additional 69,902 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GIS. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. TD Cowen raised their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.67.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $66.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.47 and a 1-year high of $75.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $67.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.26.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In related news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $173,514.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at $2,700,411.92. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 67,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,721,336. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills 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.