Sara Bay Financial Reduces Stock Position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Sara Bay Financial reduced its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,788 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,455 shares during the period. Sara Bay Financial’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 11.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 277,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,787,000 after buying an additional 29,184 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 547.9% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after buying an additional 16,312 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 110.0% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 22,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,338,000 after buying an additional 11,594 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 18.4% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 130,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,899,000 after buying an additional 20,278 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 22.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 48,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 8,944 shares in the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland stock traded up $0.22 on Friday, hitting $51.23. 3,234,014 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,508,151. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.52 billion, a PE ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.72. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 1 year low of $48.40 and a 1 year high of $68.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.40.

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ADM. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $55.00 to $51.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $63.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.08.

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.