Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR) Shares Acquired by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:INGR - Free Report) by 21,385.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,801 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,774 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s holdings in Ingredion were worth $797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in INGR. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Ingredion by 154.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 77,890 shares of the company's stock worth $9,101,000 after acquiring an additional 47,225 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ingredion by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,876 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,305,000 after buying an additional 21,619 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in shares of Ingredion in the 1st quarter valued at $1,154,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Ingredion during the 1st quarter worth $1,812,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd lifted its position in Ingredion by 2,629.3% in the second quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 3,821 shares of the company's stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 3,681 shares during the last quarter. 85.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

INGR has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Ingredion from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ingredion from $141.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Ingredion from $138.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ingredion from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Ingredion from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $122.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $138.83.

Ingredion Stock Performance

NYSE:INGR traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $133.64. The stock had a trading volume of 281,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 371,073. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $8.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.84. Ingredion Incorporated has a 12-month low of $91.60 and a 12-month high of $138.37.

Ingredion (NYSE:INGR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. Ingredion had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 17.18%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ingredion Incorporated will post 9.95 EPS for the current year.

Ingredion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. This is an increase from Ingredion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Ingredion's dividend payout ratio is 32.06%.

Insider Activity

In other Ingredion news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.03, for a total value of $174,239.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 52,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,040,595.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ingredion news, CEO James P. Zallie sold 1,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.03, for a total transaction of $174,239.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,040,595.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James P. Zallie sold 1,000 shares of Ingredion stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.02, for a total transaction of $134,020.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,040,070.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,356 shares of company stock valued at $3,400,709 in the last three months. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ingredion Profile

Ingredion Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells sweeteners, starches, nutrition ingredients, and biomaterial solutions derived from wet milling and processing corn, and other starch-based materials to a range of industries in North America, South America, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.