JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Stock Price

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) had its target price reduced by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $60.00 to $54.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target points to a potential downside of 7.19% from the stock’s current price.

GIS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of General Mills in a report on Monday. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.06.

General Mills Trading Down 1.7 %

GIS stock traded down $1.02 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $58.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,729,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,952,204. The firm has a market cap of $32.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. General Mills has a 12-month low of $55.15 and a 12-month high of $75.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.42.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that General Mills will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,546.50. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 11,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $739,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 353,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,967,490. This trade represents a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 217,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,885,000 after buying an additional 52,262 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 212,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,565,000 after buying an additional 5,070 shares in the last quarter. Aegis Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the fourth quarter worth approximately $271,000. Probity Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in General Mills by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 14,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 1,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its holdings in General Mills by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 27,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 2,123 shares in the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.