Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $5.57 Million Investment in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 114,640 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $5,573,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.09% of FMC at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FMC. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in FMC by 17.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 310,378 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $20,465,000 after acquiring an additional 45,752 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co acquired a new stake in shares of FMC in the third quarter valued at about $205,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in FMC during the third quarter worth about $58,000. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in FMC by 82.9% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 49,892 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,290,000 after buying an additional 22,612 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its holdings in FMC by 18.7% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 60,200 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,970,000 after buying an additional 9,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on FMC. Barclays dropped their price objective on FMC from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of FMC from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of FMC in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of FMC from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective (down from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.92.

FMC Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of FMC stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.19. 1,554,943 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,044,941. The company has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.83. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $39.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.89. 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 fifty-two week low of $32.83 and a fifty-two week high of $68.72.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 9.67%. Research analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at FMC

In other news, Director Carol Anthony Davidson purchased 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $37.33 per share, for a total transaction of $223,980.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $223,980. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 acquired at an average price of $35.77 per share, with a total value of $200,312.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 48,837 shares of the company's stock, 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. 0.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.