Insider Selling: Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Insider Sells $419,279.92 in Stock

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) insider Fruit Molly L. Strader sold 6,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.73, for a total transaction of $419,279.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $519,545.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Down 0.4 %

ADM stock opened at $60.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 0.78. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.72 and a fifty-two week high of $87.30. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.60 and a 200-day moving average of $63.57.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.11. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The company had revenue of $21.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, March 12th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.09%.

Institutional Trading of Archer-Daniels-Midland

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ADM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,826,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,260,165,000 after purchasing an additional 7,320,289 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,325,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,106,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,532,284 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,303,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,372,000 after acquiring an additional 252,486 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,641,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,737,000 after acquiring an additional 2,547,232 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted 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 purchasing an additional 217,459 shares during the period. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ADM. TheStreet lowered shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $66.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Citigroup boosted their target price 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.50.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company 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.