Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Shares Sold by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. decreased its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,520 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,278 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $1,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,215,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,394,000 after buying an additional 76,787 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 85,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,310,000 after buying an additional 1,557 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 35,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,816,000 after buying an additional 13,598 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth $1,005,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of ADM opened at $48.30 on Friday. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12 month low of $44.92 and a 12 month high of $66.08. The stock has a market cap of $23.11 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.44 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $49.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.33.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 2.10%. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is presently 56.51%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Stephens decreased their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.11.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company Profile

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.