Arizona State Retirement System Sells 2,776 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 138,878 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,776 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $7,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake 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 worth $87,409,000 after buying an additional 360,844 shares in the last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth about $1,217,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 46,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,369,000 after buying an additional 16,456 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth about $8,677,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP grew its stake 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 worth $2,372,000 after buying an additional 26,329 shares in the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE ADM opened at $49.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.39. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 52-week low of $44.92 and a 52-week high of $66.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $48.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.58. The stock has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is 56.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.89.

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.