FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) Shares Bought by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 90,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,030 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in FMC were worth $43,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in FMC in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FMC by 217.4% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of FMC during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in FMC by 65.3% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in FMC by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 990 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ronaldo Pereira bought 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $35.77 per share, with a total value of $200,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 48,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,746,899.49. The trade was a 12.95 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson purchased 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $37.33 per share, with a total value of $223,980.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,980. The trade was a ? increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on FMC. StockNews.com cut FMC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 22nd. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down previously from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “cautious” rating on shares of FMC in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on the stock. in a 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.15.

FMC Stock Performance

FMC stock opened at $35.33 on Monday. 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 $33.80 and a fifty-two week high of $68.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.95. The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.83.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last announced 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that FMC Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.57%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.29%.

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.