West Oak Capital LLC Sells 4,760 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

West Oak Capital LLC cut its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 36.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,760 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ADM. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 11.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,641,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $651,737,000 after acquiring an additional 2,547,232 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,488,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,591,000 after acquiring an additional 217,459 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter worth $420,457,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,043,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,050,000 after purchasing an additional 244,765 shares during the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ADM shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $66.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.50.

Insider Activity at Archer-Daniels-Midland

In related news, insider Fruit Molly L. Strader sold 6,904 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $519,545.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

ADM traded up $1.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $62.14. The company had a trading volume of 3,581,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,328,493. The company has a market cap of $30.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.11. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 1 year low of $50.72 and a 1 year high of $87.30.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $21.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.26 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 3.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.09%.

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

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.