Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Sells 2,445 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC cut its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 25,073 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,445 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $1,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in General Mills by 1.1% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 1.7% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Stock Down 1.2 %

GIS stock opened at $58.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $32.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.88. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.85 and a 1-year high of $75.90.

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

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.