Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) was in 23 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. ADM has seen an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately. There were 19 hedge funds in our database with ADM positions at the end of the previous quarter.

At the moment, there are plenty of gauges market participants can use to monitor their holdings. A duo of the best are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best hedge fund managers can outpace the market by a significant amount (see just how much).

Just as important, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the financial markets. There are lots of reasons for an insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if investors know where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a look at the latest action encompassing Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM).

What have hedge funds been doing with Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 23 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 21% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.

Of the funds we track, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the most valuable position in Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM). Citadel Investment Group has a $208.3 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by SAC Capital Advisors, managed by Steven Cohen, which held a $102.4 million position; 0.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedgies that hold long positions include Tom Gayner’s Markel Gayner Asset Management, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors.

As one would reasonably expect, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Point State Capital, managed by Sean Cullinan, created the largest position in Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM). Point State Capital had 22.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital also initiated a $5.4 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Philippe Jabre’s Jabre Capital Partners, Bart Baum’s Ionic Capital Management, and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.

How have insiders been trading Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time frame, Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM). These stocks are Cresud S.A.C.I.F. y A. (ADR) (NASDAQ:CRESY), Adecoagro SA (NYSE:AGRO), The Andersons, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANDE), Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (NYSE:FDP), and Bunge Ltd (NYSE:BG). All of these stocks are in the farm products industry and their market caps are closest to ADM’s market cap.