Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 946 Shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 16.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,704 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 946 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in FMC were worth $326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in FMC by 56.1% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,308 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in FMC by 15.5% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 12,430 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $820,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc purchased a new position in FMC in the third quarter valued at approximately $681,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in FMC by 8.1% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 17,433 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in FMC by 2,531.3% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 253,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,695,000 after buying an additional 243,557 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FMC opened at $41.78 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.19. FMC Co. has a twelve month low of $33.80 and a twelve month high of $68.72.

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

FMC Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.55%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho lowered their target price on FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $78.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “cautious” rating on shares of FMC in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Vertical Research upgraded FMC to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on FMC from $70.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FMC currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total transaction of $163,429.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,407,107. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ronaldo Pereira acquired 5,600 shares of FMC stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $35.77 per share, for a total transaction of $200,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,746,899.49. The trade was a 12.95 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

FMC Profile

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.