PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. decreased its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,511,174 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,608 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned 0.27% of General Mills worth $111,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. First Foundation Advisors raised its position in General Mills by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 500 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in General Mills by 61.5% in 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 last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Mills during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 47.5% during the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 559 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Mills news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $63,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total transaction of $3,190,365.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 355,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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 Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GIS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on General Mills in a report on Monday, August 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $72.67.

General Mills Stock Up 1.6 %

GIS traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $63.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,684,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,908,723. General Mills, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.47 and a 1 year high of $75.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.11. The stock's 50-day moving average is $70.00 and its 200-day moving average is $68.70.

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

General Mills Dividend Announcement

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

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.