Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Sells 807 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lowered its position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,982 shares of the company’s stock after selling 807 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in General Mills were worth $2,276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 16.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,298,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,219,113,000 after acquiring an additional 8,444,312 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 22.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,650,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $955,118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,488,341 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 100.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,728,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,368,563 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 6,140.4% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 945,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,807,000 after purchasing an additional 930,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of General Mills in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,177,000. Institutional investors own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

General Mills Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GIS opened at $74.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $41.86 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $75.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $69.45 and a 200-day moving average of $68.40.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.56% and a net margin of 12.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. This is a positive change from General Mills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. General Mills’s payout ratio is 55.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America raised their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on General Mills from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on General Mills from $70.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Mills currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.60.

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 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.