Traders Purchase High Volume of Archer Daniels Midland Call Options (NYSE:ADM)

Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 19,672 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 360% compared to the typical volume of 4,281 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Archer Daniels Midland

In other Archer Daniels Midland news, Director David R. Mcatee II acquired 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $64.90 per share, for a total transaction of $486,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 7,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $486,750. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer L. Weber sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.04, for a total transaction of $1,676,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 123,668 shares in the company, valued at $8,290,702.72. This trade represents a 16.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 109,106 shares of company stock worth $7,539,602. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Archer Daniels Midland

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ADM. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in Archer Daniels Midland in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Sankala Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Archer Daniels Midland in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new stake in Archer Daniels Midland during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont grew its position in Archer Daniels Midland by 367.0% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 509 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Archer Daniels Midland Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ADM traded down $2.29 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $68.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,393,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,816,944. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.91, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $67.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.72. Archer Daniels Midland has a 12-month low of $40.98 and a 12-month high of $73.72.

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.07. Archer Daniels Midland had a net margin of 1.34% and a return on equity of 7.39%. The company had revenue of $18.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Archer Daniels Midland has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.600-4.250 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Archer Daniels Midland will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer Daniels Midland Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is an increase from Archer Daniels Midland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Archer Daniels Midland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Archer Daniels Midland from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Archer Daniels Midland in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Archer Daniels Midland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Archer Daniels Midland in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Archer Daniels Midland from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $57.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Archer Daniels Midland currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $58.00.

About Archer Daniels Midland

Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) is a global agricultural processor and food-ingredient provider that sources, transports and processes oilseeds, corn, wheat and other agricultural commodities. The company operates large-scale crushing, refining and processing facilities that produce vegetable oils, protein meals, corn sweeteners, starches, ethanol, animal feeds and a wide range of food and industrial ingredients. ADM also develops specialty ingredients and solutions for human and animal nutrition, food and beverage formulation, and industrial applications such as bio-based materials and renewable fuels.

ADM’s business combines commodity origination and merchandising with downstream manufacturing and ingredient formulation.