Insider Selling: General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Insider Sells $275,827.50 in Stock

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) insider Ricardo Fernandez sold 7,995 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.50, for a total transaction of $275,827.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 62,283 shares in the company, valued at $2,148,763.50. The trade was a 11.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

General Mills Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $32.98 on Friday. General Mills, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.91 and a 52-week high of $55.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $17.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.06 and a beta of -0.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $36.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.09). General Mills had a return on equity of 19.19% and a net margin of 12.05%.The firm had revenue of $4.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 3.43 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Mills in the third quarter worth $25,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Close Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 139.8% during the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 578 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on GIS. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on General Mills from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on General Mills from $42.00 to $36.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on General Mills from $47.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on General Mills from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $42.61.

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.