Kennedy Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC decreased its position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 214,945 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 18,487 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.17% of FMC worth $10,448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

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FMC Stock Performance

Shares of FMC stock traded down $0.19 on Tuesday, reaching $37.38. 1,326,001 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,033,907. FMC Co. has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $68.72. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $38.81 and a 200 day moving average of $50.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.83.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities analysts forecast that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.21%. FMC's payout ratio is 85.29%.

Insider Transactions at FMC

In related 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,468 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ronaldo Pereira bought 5,600 shares of FMC stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the insider now directly owns 48,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,746,899.49. This represents a 12.95 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on FMC shares. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of FMC from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded FMC from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered FMC from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 22nd. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of FMC from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $50.31.

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.