Commerce Bank Reduces Stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Commerce Bank reduced its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,388 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,914 shares during the period. Commerce Bank's holdings in General Mills were worth $9,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GIS. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 1.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,634,280 shares of the company's stock worth $120,691,000 after purchasing an additional 19,290 shares during the period. Bard Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 108,475 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,011,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Mills in the 3rd quarter worth $403,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in General Mills by 138.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 37,487 shares of the company's stock worth $2,768,000 after buying an additional 21,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its holdings in General Mills by 19.0% during the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,095,000 after acquiring an additional 4,528 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Down 0.7 %

GIS traded down $0.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $56.01. The stock had a trading volume of 1,965,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,716,656. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.15 and a twelve month high of $75.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $30.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group started coverage on shares of General Mills in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "sell" rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on General Mills in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 353,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,967,490. The trade was 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 through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.