Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Shares Sold by Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV decreased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,186 shares of the company’s stock after selling 163 shares during the quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $1,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ADM. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ADM shares. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $66.00 to $60.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Archer-Daniels-Midland presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Archer-Daniels-Midland news, insider Fruit Molly L. Strader sold 6,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.73, for a total transaction of $419,279.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $519,545.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of ADM stock opened at $62.65 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.98 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a twelve month low of $50.72 and a twelve month high of $87.30.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $21.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.26 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 3.32% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.09%.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors 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 repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.