Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Stock Position Reduced by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL lowered its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 89,013 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,445 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $4,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,730,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,409,000 after purchasing an additional 360,844 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 56.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,473,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,340,000 after buying an additional 894,562 shares during the last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,217,000. Semanteon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter worth approximately $614,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP raised its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 127.7% during the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 46,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,372,000 after acquiring an additional 26,329 shares in the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ADM. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens reduced their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.63.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of ADM stock opened at $47.87 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $47.89 and a 200-day moving average of $52.14. The firm has a market cap of $22.97 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12 month low of $44.92 and a 12 month high of $66.08.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The business’s revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.26%. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is currently 56.51%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Archer-Daniels-Midland

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company engages in the procurement, transportation, storage, processing, and merchandising of agricultural commodities, ingredients, flavors, and solutions in the United States, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Ag Services and Oilseeds, Carbohydrate Solutions, and Nutrition.