Easterly Investment Partners LLC Sells 278 Shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 264,931 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 278 shares during the period. FMC accounts for about 1.0% of Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.21% of FMC worth $12,878,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in FMC by 1.2% in 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 last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of FMC by 27.3% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased 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 purchasing an additional 685,995 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of FMC by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,164,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,602,000 after buying an additional 28,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in FMC by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 589,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,634,000 after buying an additional 46,137 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Price Performance

Shares of FMC stock opened at $42.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. FMC Co. has a twelve month low of $33.80 and a twelve month high of $68.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.08.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 9.67%. On average, analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.51%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.29%.

Insider Transactions at FMC

In other news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total transaction of $163,429.50. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson acquired 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $37.33 per share, with a total value of $223,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $223,980. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target (down previously from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut FMC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $78.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.15.

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.