FMC (NYSE:FMC) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of FMC (NYSE:FMC) in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $51.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 28.12% from the stock’s previous close.

FMC has been the topic of several other research reports. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (down previously from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Vertical Research raised shares of FMC to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of FMC from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.14.

FMC Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE:FMC opened at $39.81 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $45.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.61. The stock has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. FMC has a fifty-two week low of $33.80 and a fifty-two week high of $68.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that FMC will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at FMC

In related news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of FMC stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total value of $163,429.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at $1,407,107. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ronaldo Pereira acquired 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $35.77 per share, for a total transaction of $200,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 48,837 shares in the company, valued at $1,746,899.49. The trade was a 12.95 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FMC

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of FMC during the 4th quarter worth $5,379,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of FMC by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 90,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,385,000 after purchasing an additional 14,030 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of FMC during the 4th quarter worth $1,962,000. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in shares of FMC by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,842 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of FMC by 154.3% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 49,292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,396,000 after purchasing an additional 29,908 shares in the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.