Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 869,053 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 58,789 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $43,496,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 37,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,258,000 after purchasing an additional 2,380 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 10,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 2,005 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 23,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 18,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. 78.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE ADM opened at $47.87 on Friday. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a one year low of $44.92 and a one year high of $66.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.39. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.19. The company has a market cap of $22.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is 56.51%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ADM. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on 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 dropped their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.63.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Profile

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.