ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 486 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,981 shares of the company’s stock after selling 486 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in General Mills by 61.5% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 46.7% in the third quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.31.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock opened at $59.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $32.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $63.76 and its 200 day moving average is $67.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $57.94 and a one year high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company 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 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total transaction of $3,190,365.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares in the company, valued at $24,379,054.08. This trade represents a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,541 shares of company stock valued at $3,321,170 in the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.