6,601,752 Shares in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) Purchased by Norges Bank

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,601,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $333,521,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the fourth quarter worth $1,278,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 31,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,585,000 after buying an additional 7,465 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 51,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,598,000 after buying an additional 12,990 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 49,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 869,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,496,000 after acquiring an additional 58,789 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ADM shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Archer-Daniels-Midland from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.63.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Archer-Daniels-Midland stock opened at $47.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.19. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 1 year low of $44.92 and a 1 year high of $66.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.07. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 2.10%. The company had revenue of $21.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Archer-Daniels-Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. Archer-Daniels-Midland’s dividend payout ratio is 56.51%.

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.