Exeter Financial LLC Sells 4,699 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Exeter Financial LLC reduced its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,094 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,699 shares during the quarter. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $1,015,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 15,790.1% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,596,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $459,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,549,083 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,430,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,160,755,000 after buying an additional 5,702,451 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 73.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,830,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,960,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199,992 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,045,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,914,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 33.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,979,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007,494 shares during the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE ADM opened at $52.10 on Tuesday. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a twelve month low of $48.40 and a twelve month high of $69.85. The firm has a market cap of $24.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.89 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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

Archer-Daniels-Midland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ADM shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective 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. Stephens began coverage on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $60.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.62.

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.