Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lowered its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 197,658 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,496 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in General Mills were worth $12,605,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.1% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $999,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 1.1% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in General Mills by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,629 shares of the company's stock worth $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company's stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE GIS traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $60.67. 911,753 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,226,959. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $57.94 and a one year high of $75.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $63.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.36. 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 cap of $33.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid 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 yield of 3.96%. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GIS shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Mills has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $70.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

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.