Royal Fund Management LLC Sells 13,724 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Royal Fund Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 41.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 19,412 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,724 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ADM. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 3.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,045,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,914,408,000 after buying an additional 1,018,256 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,430,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,160,755,000 after purchasing an additional 5,702,451 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,086,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,084,000 after purchasing an additional 489,554 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 33.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,979,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,494 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,607,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,533,000 after buying an additional 63,883 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Down 0.2 %

ADM opened at $51.21 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a twelve month low of $48.40 and a twelve month high of $66.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.71.

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on ADM shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $51.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $63.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Archer-Daniels-Midland currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.62.

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.