Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. decreased its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 18.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,714 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,571 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GIS. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 199.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 409.8% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Mills by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 458 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total value of $50,104.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,227,706.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Mills Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GIS traded up $0.51 during trading on Thursday, hitting $63.17. The company had a trading volume of 3,374,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,157,050. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $60.33 and a one year high of $77.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $35.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.59.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.02. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The firm had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is an increase from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup dropped their price target on General Mills from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays dropped their price target on General Mills from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.00.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.