CENTRAL TRUST Co Decreases Position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 9.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,117 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,126 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,325,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,106,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,284 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,303,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,372,000 after buying an additional 252,486 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position 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 buying an additional 2,547,232 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,488,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,591,000 after buying an additional 217,459 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the fourth quarter worth approximately $420,457,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

ADM stock traded down $1.17 on Thursday, reaching $60.73. 3,563,077 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,533,477. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.52 and a 200-day moving average of $63.73. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a twelve month low of $50.72 and a twelve month high of $87.30. The firm has a market cap of $30.03 billion, a PE ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 12th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is 35.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Archer-Daniels-Midland news, insider Fruit Molly L. Strader sold 6,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.73, for a total transaction of $419,279.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,555 shares in the company, valued at $519,545.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ADM. Citigroup lifted their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $66.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, TheStreet lowered Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.50.

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.