Employees Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stock Holdings in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) by 18.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,210 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,030 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.07% of FMC worth $43,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FMC. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its stake in FMC by 18.7% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 60,200 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,970,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its stake in FMC by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 227,328 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $11,050,000 after acquiring an additional 39,230 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank of Omaha boosted its holdings in FMC by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. First National Bank of Omaha now owns 33,935 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,238,000 after acquiring an additional 15,662 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in FMC by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,164,403 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $56,602,000 after acquiring an additional 28,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in FMC by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 164,887 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,015,000 after purchasing an additional 14,197 shares during the period. 91.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling at FMC

In related news, insider Ronaldo Pereira acquired 5,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $35.77 per share, with a total value of $200,312.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 48,837 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,746,899.49. The trade was a 12.95 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total value of $163,429.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,407,107. The trade was a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

FMC Stock Up 2.2 %

FMC stock traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.05. 1,915,809 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,038,393. The company has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.64. FMC Co. has a 1-year low of $32.83 and a 1-year high of $68.72. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $38.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.76.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last announced 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, equities analysts forecast that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. FMC's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FMC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Vertical Research upgraded shares of FMC to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on FMC in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a "cautious" rating on shares of FMC in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.15.

FMC Company 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.