Meixler Investment Management Ltd. Sells 9,749 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Meixler Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 56.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,548 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,749 shares during the quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 19,430,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,160,755,000 after purchasing an additional 5,702,451 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,382,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,193 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,045,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,914,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,256 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 33.9% in 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 period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 52.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,502,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,738,000 after acquiring an additional 514,005 shares during the period. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ADM. 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. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.11.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ADM opened at $46.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.44 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 1-year low of $44.92 and a 1-year high of $66.08. The company has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.83.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The business had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.42%. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.40%.

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.