Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM)

Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 19,672 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 360% compared to the average daily volume of 4,281 call options.

Archer Daniels Midland Price Performance

Shares of ADM stock traded down $2.29 during trading hours 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 company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Archer Daniels Midland has a fifty-two week low of $40.98 and a fifty-two week high of $73.72. The company has a market capitalization of $33.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.91, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.72.

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

Archer Daniels Midland Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Archer Daniels Midland

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ADM. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 193.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 557,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,312,000 after acquiring an additional 367,293 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Archer Daniels Midland in the third quarter valued at $1,332,000. Allstate Corp acquired a new position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland during the third quarter valued at about $1,044,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Archer Daniels Midland by 45.8% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 872,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,118,000 after purchasing an additional 273,930 shares during the period. Finally, Convergence Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Archer Daniels Midland during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,466,000. 78.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Archer Daniels Midland in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on Archer Daniels Midland from $61.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley cut Archer Daniels Midland from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $57.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Archer Daniels Midland in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Archer Daniels Midland from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Archer Daniels Midland currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $58.00.

Archer Daniels Midland Company Profile

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.