Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Research Coverage Started at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFD opened at $20.60 on Monday. Smithfield Foods has a twelve month low of $19.10 and a twelve month high of $22.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Charles Shane Smith acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,400,000. The trade was a 33.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Group Ltd/Adr Wh sold 13,043,479 shares of Smithfield Foods stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $260,869,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 367,025,753 shares in the company, valued at $7,340,515,060. This represents a 3.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders acquired 59,000 shares of company stock worth $1,180,000 over the last ninety days. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Smithfield Foods Company Profile

Smithfield Foods, Inc produces and markets a variety of fresh meat and packaged meats products both domestically and internationally. The Company operates in four segments: Pork, Hog Production, International and Corporate, each of which consists of a number of subsidiaries, joint ventures and other investments.