D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 760 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lowered its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,077 shares of the company’s stock after selling 760 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $2,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth about $420,457,000. ING Groep NV grew its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 378,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,301,000 after purchasing an additional 27,512 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 19,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,372,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 42,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,082,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ADM. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 14th. TheStreet lowered Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $51.00 price target (down from $104.00) on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $66.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.50.

Insider Transactions at Archer-Daniels-Midland

In other news, insider Fruit Molly L. Strader sold 6,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.73, for a total transaction of $419,279.92. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $519,545.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Down 0.4 %

Archer-Daniels-Midland stock traded down $0.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.49. The company had a trading volume of 2,730,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,830,116. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 1-year low of $50.72 and a 1-year high of $87.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.63. The stock has a market cap of $29.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 0.78.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $21.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.26 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 3.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is 35.09%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.