Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Decreases Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 13.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,299 shares of the company’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in General Mills were worth $161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Optimist Retirement Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the fourth quarter valued at $1,171,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 122.7% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after acquiring an additional 13,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sabal Trust CO lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 7,817.6% in the fourth quarter. Sabal Trust CO now owns 290,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,902,000 after acquiring an additional 286,514 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded General Mills from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $62.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. TD Cowen upped their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays upped their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.94.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Werner Lanette Shaffer sold 710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total value of $50,104.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,227,706.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Mills Price Performance

GIS stock opened at $67.08 on Monday. 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 1 year low of $60.33 and a 1 year high of $82.59. The firm has a market cap of $38.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.78.

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