West Oak Capital LLC Sells 9,930 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

West Oak Capital LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 43.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,060 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,930 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the second quarter worth $25,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter worth $30,000. 78.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ADM shares. Roth Capital cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $96.00 to $61.00 in a report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective (down from $104.00) on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a report on Friday, January 26th. Argus downgraded Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.00.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ADM traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $62.92. 802,159 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,634,437. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $56.01 and a 200 day moving average of $67.46. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 1 year low of $50.72 and a 1 year high of $87.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 0.75.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.07). Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $22.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.93 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s payout ratio is currently 31.25%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Archer-Daniels-Midland

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company procures, transports, stores, processes, and merchandises agricultural commodities, products, and ingredients in the United States, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Ag Services and Oilseeds, Carbohydrate Solutions, and Nutrition.