General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Position Decreased by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,109 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,081 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 237,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,565,000 after acquiring an additional 43,086 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of General Mills by 105.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,926,232 shares during the period. J2 Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter valued at $547,000. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 129.9% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,649,000 after purchasing an additional 104,436 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Mills Stock Performance

Shares of GIS stock opened at $59.99 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.15 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $60.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $33.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.04, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.10.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. Analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on GIS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho cut their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.06.

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.