General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) Insider Paul Joseph Gallagher Sells 1,041 Shares

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total transaction of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of GIS opened at $63.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $66.33 and its 200-day moving average is $68.09. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $61.47 and a one year high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.66.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. The company 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 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. General Mills’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. General Mills’s payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on GIS shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on General Mills from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays reduced 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.56.

Institutional Trading of General Mills

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GIS. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills by 1.1% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $999,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 8,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in General Mills by 1.1% during 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 last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 0.8% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,368,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.71% 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.