Ricardo Fernandez Sells 7,995 Shares of General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Stock

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) insider Ricardo Fernandez sold 7,995 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total transaction of $275,827.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 62,283 shares in the company, valued at $2,148,763.50. The trade was a 11.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

General Mills Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of GIS traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $33.75. The stock had a trading volume of 3,041,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,899,288. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.37 and a 1-year high of $55.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.07. The company has a market cap of $18.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.25 and a beta of -0.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.09). General Mills had a net margin of 12.05% and a return on equity of 19.19%. The business had revenue of $4.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GIS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 19th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on General Mills from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on General Mills from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on General Mills from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $42.61.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. LBP AM SA purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,639,000. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at $1,320,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in General Mills by 1,824.7% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 895,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,628,000 after buying an additional 848,712 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP grew its holdings in General Mills by 161.9% during the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 333,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,800,000 after buying an additional 205,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 346,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,445,000 after buying an additional 24,688 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc (NYSE: GIS) is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company’s portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.

Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.