Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 41,680 Shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,598,347 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,680 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.30% of Archer-Daniels-Midland worth $115,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,333,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 19,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 8,079 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC increased its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $313,000. Finally, G&S Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 18,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ADM opened at $60.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.77. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 1-year low of $50.72 and a 1-year high of $87.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $57.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.81.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $22.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.79 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 3.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 12th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Bank of America cut their price objective on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective (down previously from $104.00) on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Archer-Daniels-Midland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.50.

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.