General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) CEO Sells $739,635.00 in Stock

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

General Mills Trading Down 4.8 %

NYSE GIS opened at $62.15 on Wednesday. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.15 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.34 and a 200-day moving average of $65.87. The company has a market cap of $34.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly 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 firm 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 firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.24.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $999,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. raised its position in shares of General Mills by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 23,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

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.