Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 11,419 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 104,761 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,419 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $7,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ADM. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Roth Mkm downgraded shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $98.00 to $66.00 in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. TheStreet downgraded shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.50.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

ADM stock opened at $60.26 on Wednesday. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12 month low of $50.72 and a 12 month high of $87.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $57.76 and a 200-day moving average of $65.81.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.07). Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $22.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is presently 31.25%.

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.