Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM - Free Report) by 27.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 444,080 shares of the company's stock after selling 168,105 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.08% of Archer-Daniels-Midland worth $32,072,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter valued at about $475,000. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. now owns 18,469 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,334,000 after buying an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 4,518.4% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 7,297 shares of the company's stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 7,139 shares during the last quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc now owns 134,825 shares of the company's stock worth $9,737,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Syon Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 8,373 shares of the company's stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,699 shares during the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Performance

Shares of ADM stock traded down $0.29 on Wednesday, hitting $58.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,208,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,885,433. The stock's 50 day moving average is $59.41 and its 200-day moving average is $64.89. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a fifty-two week low of $50.72 and a fifty-two week high of $87.30. The company has a market capitalization of $29.29 billion, a PE ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.11. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 3.71%. The company had revenue of $21.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Archer-Daniels-Midland's quarterly revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 12th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Archer-Daniels-Midland's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ADM shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut Archer-Daniels-Midland from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $56.00 in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Barclays downgraded shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from an "overweight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $51.00 target price (down previously from $104.00) on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $67.50.

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.