Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Trims Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI lessened its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,754 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,734 shares during the period. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of General Mills by 22.1% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 237,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,565,000 after buying an additional 43,086 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 buying an additional 2,926,232 shares during the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $547,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in General Mills by 129.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 184,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,649,000 after purchasing an additional 104,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in General Mills by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,803,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058,414 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 firm’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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.94.

General Mills Stock Up 2.8 %

GIS stock opened at $62.09 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.94 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.45. The stock has a market cap of $34.23 billion, a PE ratio of 13.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.11.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.42 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. General Mills’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

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.