West Oak Capital LLC Cuts Stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

West Oak Capital LLC decreased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 43.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,060 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,930 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,227,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,534,000 after purchasing an additional 139,064 shares during the period. Ossiam grew its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 1,304.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ossiam now owns 80,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,063,000 after purchasing an additional 74,529 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,072,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,896,000 after purchasing an additional 31,700 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 543.2% in the third quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 28,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,112,000 after purchasing an additional 23,647 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 733,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,946,000 after buying an additional 80,245 shares during the period. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Down 0.1 %

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

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 12th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. This is an increase from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $66.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Roth Capital cut shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 price objective (down from $104.00) on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $90.00 to $67.00 in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.00.

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.