Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Decreases Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,730,497 shares of the company’s stock after selling 60,828 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $121,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GIS. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Mills by 199.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Mills by 409.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its holdings in General Mills by 769.2% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Mills Stock Down 0.2 %

GIS stock opened at $63.07 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $68.20 and a 200 day moving average of $66.70. The firm has a market cap of $35.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.09. General Mills, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.33 and a twelve month high of $77.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a boost from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on GIS. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Bank of America lowered their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on General Mills from $77.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Mills has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.00.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In other General Mills news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $50,104.70. Following the sale, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.