Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,461 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,482 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $1,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 179.4% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 724.6% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ADM. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays cut 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. BMO Capital Markets cut 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 cut 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. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.63.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ADM opened at $46.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.64. 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 fifty-two week low of $44.92 and a fifty-two week high of $66.08.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.51 dividend. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.42%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is presently 56.51%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland 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.