First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 704,549 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,843 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.56% of FMC worth $34,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FMC. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in FMC in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in FMC by 217.4% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in FMC during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of FMC by 65.3% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 959 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of FMC by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 990 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at FMC

In other FMC news, Director Carol Anthony Davidson bought 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $37.33 per share, for a total transaction of $223,980.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $223,980. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ronaldo Pereira purchased 5,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $35.77 per share, with a total value of $200,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 48,837 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,746,899.49. This trade represents a 12.95 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

FMC Price Performance

Shares of FMC stock traded up $0.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.19. The company had a trading volume of 1,554,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,044,941. FMC Co. has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $68.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.83. 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 moving average is $39.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.89.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. FMC's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FMC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of FMC from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $49.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered FMC from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective (down previously from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $48.92.

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.