Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Shares Sold by Avantax Planning Partners Inc.

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. decreased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,586 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,813 shares during the quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $2,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,730,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,409,000 after purchasing an additional 360,844 shares in the last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,217,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 46,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,369,000 after purchasing an additional 16,456 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,677,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP raised its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 127.7% during the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 46,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,372,000 after purchasing an additional 26,329 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland stock opened at $48.62 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12 month low of $44.92 and a 12 month 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.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on ADM shares. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.89.

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.