Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 17,000 Shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) by 46.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 17,000 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in FMC were worth $958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of FMC during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,888,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of FMC by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,559,107 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $173,008,000 after acquiring an additional 977,110 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 48.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,088,235 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $101,509,000 after acquiring an additional 685,995 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FMC by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 1,861,057 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $90,466,000 after buying an additional 241,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of FMC by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,291,878 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $743,338,000 after acquiring an additional 180,766 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at FMC

In related news, Director Carol Anthony Davidson bought 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $37.33 per share, with a total value of $223,980.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $223,980. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ronaldo Pereira bought 5,600 shares of FMC stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $35.77 per share, for a total transaction of $200,312.00. Following the purchase, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on FMC. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on FMC from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of 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 research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on FMC in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of 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, eleven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.69.

FMC Stock Performance

FMC stock traded up $1.34 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.39. 1,733,292 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,036,544. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48, 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 current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $39.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.43. FMC Co. has a 12 month low of $32.83 and a 12 month high of $68.72.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.89%. FMC's dividend payout ratio is 85.29%.

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.