Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 482,048 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 55.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 389,933 shares of the company’s stock after selling 482,048 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.08% of Archer-Daniels-Midland worth $19,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 179.4% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 724.6% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 569 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America lowered their target price 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. 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, Archer-Daniels-Midland presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.63.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE ADM opened at $47.01 on Thursday. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 1-year low of $44.92 and a 1-year high of $66.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $48.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.34. The company has a market cap of $22.55 billion, a PE ratio of 13.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 2.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.34%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.51%.

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.