Sandhill Capital Partners LLC Lowers Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC lessened its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 56,897 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,906 shares during the quarter. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $3,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GIS. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC raised its position in General Mills by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 4,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its position in General Mills by 142.1% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 4,068 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its position in General Mills by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 9,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,000 after buying an additional 1,541 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its position in General Mills by 156.3% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 820 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC raised its position in General Mills by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 21,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after buying an additional 4,259 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total value of $692,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares in the company, valued at $6,462,899.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 17,726 shares of company stock worth $1,187,811 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GIS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on General Mills in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, HSBC boosted their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.18.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS traded down $0.23 during trading on Thursday, reaching $71.38. 2,871,156 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,259,650. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.33 and a 12-month high of $90.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.49. The company has a market cap of $40.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.15.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The company’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.13%.

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 salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.