114,640 Shares in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) Bought by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 114,640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,573,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp raised its stake in shares of FMC by 186.2% in 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 last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in FMC by 90.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in FMC during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in FMC during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of FMC in the 3rd quarter valued at $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of FMC stock opened at $41.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.29. FMC Co. has a 1-year low of $33.80 and a 1-year high of $68.72. The company has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

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

FMC Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity 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 value of $163,429.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,407,107. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ronaldo Pereira acquired 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $35.77 per share, with a total value of $200,312.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,837 shares in the company, valued at $1,746,899.49. This trade represents a 12.95 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on FMC from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Vertical Research upgraded FMC to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup raised their target price on FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.15.

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.