General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Shares Sold by Arlington Trust Co LLC

Arlington Trust Co LLC cut its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 69.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 745 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,691 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $48,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GIS. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills during the third quarter worth $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of General Mills by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GIS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup cut their target price on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America raised General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.13.

Insider Transactions at General Mills

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Trading Down 1.3 %

GIS stock opened at $58.06 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.85 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The firm has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

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.