Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Invests $2.49 Million in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 51,309 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,494,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FMC. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of FMC by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,271,760 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $417,151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,615 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in FMC during the fourth quarter worth $49,888,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised 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 worth $101,509,000 after acquiring an additional 685,995 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $743,338,000 after acquiring an additional 180,766 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.86% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other FMC news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $1,407,107. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ronaldo Pereira bought 5,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $35.77 per share, with a total value of $200,312.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 48,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,746,899.49. This represents a 12.95 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

FMC Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of FMC stock traded up $0.50 on Monday, hitting $37.60. The stock had a trading volume of 69,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,030,870. FMC Co. has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $68.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.82, a P/E/G 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. The stock's 50 day moving average is $38.77 and its 200-day moving average is $50.65.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. FMC's payout ratio is 85.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on FMC. UBS Group lowered shares of FMC from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $66.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of FMC from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on FMC from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded FMC from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FMC currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

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.