Foster & Motley Inc. Trims Stock Position in Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Foster & Motley Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,650 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,179 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Archer Daniels Midland were worth $1,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in Archer Daniels Midland during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,914,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland in the 1st quarter worth $1,183,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Archer Daniels Midland by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,715,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,305,000 after acquiring an additional 247,647 shares during the last quarter. Bell Bank raised its holdings in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Bell Bank now owns 167,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,043,000 after purchasing an additional 16,558 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 230,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,664,000 after purchasing an additional 6,510 shares in the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archer Daniels Midland Price Performance

Shares of ADM stock opened at $55.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $26.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $52.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Archer Daniels Midland Company has a 1-year low of $40.98 and a 1-year high of $62.67.

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $20.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.05 billion. Archer Daniels Midland had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 1.63%. Archer Daniels Midland’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Archer Daniels Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer Daniels Midland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Archer Daniels Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADM has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Archer Daniels Midland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $55.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Archer Daniels Midland from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on Archer Daniels Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America cut Archer Daniels Midland from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $45.00 in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.25.

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.