General Mills, Inc. $GIS Shares Sold by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lessened its holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,509 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,194 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $4,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Garde Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 101.5% in the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in General Mills in the second quarter valued at $32,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Pingora Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 416.7% in the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on GIS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of General Mills in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of General Mills from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $54.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of General Mills from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of General Mills from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.82.

General Mills Price Performance

General Mills stock opened at $47.47 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.97, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of -0.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.80 and a 52-week high of $67.40.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 17th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.52 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 15.24% and a return on equity of 23.46%. General Mills’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is 46.12%.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Jacqueline Williams-Roll sold 4,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.04, for a total transaction of $200,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 66,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,332,313.72. This trade represents a 5.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Company 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.