Wells Fargo & Company Lowers General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Price Target to $61.00

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its price target decreased by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $61.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target points to a potential upside of 3.13% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on GIS. Bank of America upgraded shares of General Mills from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of General Mills from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.88.

General Mills Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE GIS opened at $59.15 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. General Mills has a 52 week low of $55.15 and a 52 week high of $75.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.61 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.61.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The business had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that General Mills will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GIS. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, TCW Group Inc. raised its holdings in General Mills by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 23,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. 75.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.