FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) Stock Position Lowered by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its stake in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in FMC were worth $1,687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp raised its position in shares of FMC by 186.2% during the third quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp now owns 498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of FMC by 90.8% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FMC during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FMC during the third quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of FMC during the third quarter worth $52,000. 91.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FMC Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:FMC opened at $38.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $47.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.40. FMC Co. has a 52 week low of $33.80 and a 52 week high of $68.72.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 9.67%. On average, research analysts forecast that FMC Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. FMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FMC

In other FMC news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total transaction of $163,429.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at $1,407,107. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FMC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price (down previously from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on FMC from $70.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Vertical Research raised FMC to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.23.

About FMC

FMC Corporation, an agricultural sciences company, provides crop protection, plant health, and professional pest and turf management products. It develops, markets, and sells crop protection chemicals that includes insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides; and biologicals, crop nutrition, and seed treatment products, which are used in agriculture to enhance crop yield and quality by controlling a range of insects, weeds, and diseases, as well as in non-agricultural markets for pest control.