Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Insider Fruit Molly L. Strader Sells 6,904 Shares of Stock

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) insider Fruit Molly L. Strader sold 6,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.73, for a total transaction of $419,279.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $519,545.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ADM opened at $61.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $61.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 0.78. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 1-year low of $50.72 and a 1-year high of $87.30.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.11. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 3.32%. The firm had revenue of $21.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.09%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 12th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 target price (down from $104.00) on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research report on Friday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $66.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. TheStreet cut Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Bank of America lowered their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archer-Daniels-Midland

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 12.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,826,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,260,165,000 after purchasing an additional 7,320,289 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,325,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,106,830,000 after buying an additional 1,532,284 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,303,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,372,000 after acquiring an additional 252,486 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,641,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $651,737,000 after acquiring an additional 2,547,232 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,488,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,591,000 after purchasing an additional 217,459 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

About Archer-Daniels-Midland

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.