Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 2,147,655 Shares of Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) by 3.4% during the first quarter, now holding 60.2 million shares valued at approximately $2.89 billion.
• Other institutional investors such as Voloridge Investment Management LLC and Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. have increased their holdings in Archer Daniels Midland, indicating mixed sentiment among investors.
• The company reported earnings of $0.93 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing estimates, although revenue has declined by 4.9% year-over-year to $21.17 billion.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,211,614 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,147,655 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.53% of Archer Daniels Midland worth $2,890,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 18.9% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 17,417 shares of the company's stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,767 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,456,637 shares of the company's stock worth $69,933,000 after purchasing an additional 241,395 shares during the last quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 56.8% during the 1st quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 6,238 shares of the company's stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 2,260 shares during the last quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC now owns 6,983 shares of the company's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Probity Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Archer Daniels Midland by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 13,631 shares of the company's stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 1,695 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company's stock.

Archer Daniels Midland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ADM traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $58.83. 1,530,552 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,964,379. Archer Daniels Midland Company has a 52 week low of $40.98 and a 52 week high of $62.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.27 billion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.68. The company's 50 day moving average price is $53.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.69.

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.05. Archer Daniels Midland had a net margin of 1.33% and a return on equity of 8.43%. The company had revenue of $21.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Archer Daniels Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer Daniels Midland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Archer Daniels Midland's payout ratio is currently 89.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Archer Daniels Midland from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Archer Daniels Midland from $47.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upgraded shares of Archer Daniels Midland from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up from $60.00) on shares of Archer Daniels Midland in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Archer Daniels Midland from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $47.00 to $45.00 in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Archer Daniels Midland presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $54.71.

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.