Ellsworth Advisors LLC Sells 65,669 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 45.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,182 shares of the company's stock after selling 65,669 shares during the quarter. General Mills comprises 1.3% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Ellsworth Advisors LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $5,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Mills in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 606 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $64.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on General Mills from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Mills news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,716,546.50. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,541 shares of company stock valued at $3,321,170. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $59.64. 4,458,301 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,010,859. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.94 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $63.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $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. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.11.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The firm's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. General Mills's payout ratio is 52.17%.

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.