UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Sells 486,569 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lowered its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,284,845 shares of the company’s stock after selling 486,569 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 1.13% of General Mills worth $464,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in General Mills by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $999,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in General Mills by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. LCM Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in General Mills by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 8,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in General Mills by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of General Mills from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 directly owns 23,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,465,007.58. The trade was a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 46,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.61, for a total transaction of $3,190,365.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 355,328 shares in the company, valued at $24,379,054.08. This represents a 11.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,555 shares of company stock valued at $4,721,336 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Mills Trading Up 0.4 %

GIS opened at $66.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.11. General Mills, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.47 and a 12 month high of $75.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 18th. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.01. General Mills had a net margin of 12.14% and a return on equity of 26.85%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

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 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.