Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $2.39 Million Stock Position in Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM - Free Report) by 14.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,848 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,190 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Archer Daniels Midland were worth $2,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,152,539 shares of the company's stock worth $1,068,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,428 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,715,040 shares of the company's stock valued at $590,305,000 after acquiring an additional 247,647 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 11,035,011 shares of the company's stock valued at $557,489,000 after acquiring an additional 275,792 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Archer Daniels Midland by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,145,818 shares of the company's stock worth $361,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Archer Daniels Midland by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,212,681 shares of the company's stock valued at $212,825,000 after purchasing an additional 727,675 shares during the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Archer Daniels Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America downgraded Archer Daniels Midland from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $47.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group upgraded Archer Daniels Midland from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $55.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Archer Daniels Midland from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Archer Daniels Midland presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.25.

Archer Daniels Midland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ADM traded down $1.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $54.16. The company had a trading volume of 3,986,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,689,702. The firm's fifty day moving average is $52.25 and its 200 day moving average is $49.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.69. Archer Daniels Midland Company has a twelve month low of $40.98 and a twelve month high of $62.67.

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Archer Daniels Midland had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 1.63%. The firm had revenue of $20.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Archer Daniels Midland Company will post 4.31 EPS for the current year.

Archer Daniels Midland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. Archer Daniels Midland's payout ratio is presently 72.86%.

Archer Daniels Midland Company 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.