Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Decreases Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board cut its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 58.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,336 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,052 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in General Mills were worth $1,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Mills during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. First Foundation Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 400.0% in the second quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 500 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in General Mills by 47.5% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 559 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Pankaj Mn Sharma sold 2,325 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.63, for a total transaction of $173,514.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,184 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,700,411.92. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 67,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,721,336. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.67.

General Mills Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE GIS traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $63.86. 1,066,654 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,896,149. The stock has a market cap of $35.45 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.70. General Mills, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.47 and a 52 week high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.80 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The business's revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. Analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. General Mills's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

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.