Ritholtz Wealth Management Sells 4,988 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Ritholtz Wealth Management decreased its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS - Free Report) by 21.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,901 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,988 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in General Mills were worth $1,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GIS. State Street Corp grew its position in General Mills by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,502,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,474,177,000 after buying an additional 2,867,678 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of General Mills by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company's stock worth $497,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,058,414 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 105.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,708,223 shares of the company's stock valued at $421,552,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926,232 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 6.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,629,943 shares of the company's stock valued at $356,151,000 after acquiring an additional 323,090 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 7.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,823,254 shares of the company's stock valued at $282,347,000 after acquiring an additional 263,188 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of General Mills 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 355,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,379,054.08. The trade was a 11.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,541 shares of company stock valued at $3,321,170 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

General Mills Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of GIS stock traded up $0.48 on Friday, reaching $59.64. 4,458,301 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,010,859. The business's 50 day moving average price is $63.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.52. The company has a market capitalization of $32.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.92. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.94 and a 12-month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.14 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 13.08%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GIS shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.31.

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.