National Pension Service Cuts Stock Position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

National Pension Service lessened its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM - Free Report) by 34.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 822,389 shares of the company's stock after selling 428,735 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.17% of Archer-Daniels-Midland worth $41,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ADM. West Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the company's stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Invesco LLC grew its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 16,242 shares of the company's stock worth $821,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC lifted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 4,565 shares of the company's stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 7,952 shares of the company's stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company's stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ADM traded down $0.48 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $46.10. 1,870,760 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,454,870. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.83. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 52-week low of $44.92 and a 52-week high of $66.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.72. 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 (NYSE:ADM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.43%. Archer-Daniels-Midland's payout ratio is 56.51%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program 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. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ADM. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens cut their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.