Morgan Stanley Cuts Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) Price Target to $52.00

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $57.00 to $52.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ADM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.83.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

NYSE ADM opened at $53.35 on Tuesday. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a 12-month low of $48.92 and a 12-month high of $77.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.81. The firm has a market cap of $25.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71 and a beta of 0.73.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.16%.

Insider Activity at Archer-Daniels-Midland

In other news, CEO Juan R. Luciano sold 3,683 shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total transaction of $224,663.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 265,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,177,810. This trade represents a 1.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 219,348 shares of company stock valued at $13,296,833 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.4% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,138,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,011,000 after acquiring an additional 68,133 shares during the last quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd now owns 303,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,110,000 after purchasing an additional 13,177 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 2nd quarter valued at about $974,000. Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 782,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,742,000 after purchasing an additional 63,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter worth about $1,081,000. Institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

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.