Viewpoint Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Viewpoint Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,314 shares of the company’s stock after selling 650 shares during the quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Operose Advisors LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 214.1% during the third quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 199.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC increased its stake in General Mills by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 458 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Mizuho raised their price objective on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.44.

Insider Activity

In other General Mills news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $50,104.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of General Mills stock traded down $0.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $63.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,274,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,473,323. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.33 and a 1-year high of $77.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $35.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.12.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The company’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is presently 55.68%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.