Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,442 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,577 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $6,975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. RFP Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 66.3% during the 1st quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors lifted its position in General Mills by 400.0% in the second quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in General Mills by 47.5% during the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 559 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the second quarter valued at $38,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Mills Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of GIS opened at $68.22 on Thursday. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.47 and a 52-week high of $75.90. The stock has a market cap of $38.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $72.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.85% and a net margin of 12.14%. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,700,411.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other General Mills news, CAO Mark A. Pallot sold 8,083 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.28, for a total transaction of $576,156.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,055,870.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $173,514.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,184 shares in the company, valued at $2,700,411.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,555 shares of company stock worth $4,657,676 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of General Mills in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on General Mills from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of General Mills in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

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.