Welch & Forbes LLC Lowers Holdings in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Welch & Forbes LLC cut its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,270 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $5,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. L.M. Kohn & Company increased its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 6,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in General Mills by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,052,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills by 4.3% during the third quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of General Mills by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 16,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Lincoln National Corp lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 35,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,293,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 75.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 10,000 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.21, for a total transaction of $692,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 93,381 shares in the company, valued at $6,462,899.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on GIS. Bank of America upped their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. HSBC lifted their target price on General Mills from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of General Mills in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.18.

General Mills Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of GIS stock traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $69.89. 2,453,764 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,184,218. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.97. General Mills, Inc. has a one year low of $60.33 and a one year high of $90.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.15. 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 (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. General Mills’s revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Company 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.