LPL Financial LLC Sells 28,030 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

LPL Financial LLC lowered its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 352,851 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,030 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $17,826,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 179.4% in the fourth 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 position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 78.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ADM. 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 for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of 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 lowered their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.63.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ADM opened at $48.02 on Tuesday. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a one year low of $44.92 and a one year high of $66.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $23.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $47.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.06.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The firm had revenue of $21.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.25%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is currently 56.51%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board 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.