Vanguard Group Inc. Has $743.34 Million Stock Position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,291,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 180,766 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.25% of FMC worth $743,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 acquiring 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 valued at $101,509,000 after purchasing an additional 685,995 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $56,602,000 after purchasing an additional 28,059 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of FMC by 8.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 46,137 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FMC by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 577,962 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,095,000 after buying an additional 2,668 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on FMC. Vertical Research raised shares of FMC to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho lowered their target price on FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on FMC from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (down previously from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of FMC from $70.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.15.

Insider Activity at FMC

In related news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,407,107. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $37.33 per share, with a total value of $223,980.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $223,980. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

FMC Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FMC opened at $42.25 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.24. FMC Co. has a 1 year low of $33.80 and a 1 year high of $68.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93.

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

FMC Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.49%. FMC’s payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

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.