FMC (NYSE:FMC) Upgraded at Vertical Research

FMC (NYSE:FMC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Vertical Research to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lowered 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. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (down from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their price target on FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised FMC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.62.

FMC Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of FMC opened at $35.66 on Wednesday. FMC has a 12 month low of $34.00 and a 12 month high of $68.72. The stock has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a return on equity of 7.68% and a net margin of 34.93%. Equities analysts predict that FMC will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at FMC

In other FMC news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.67, for a total value of $270,245.43. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 28,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,709,485.83. This represents a 13.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of FMC 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,407,107. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,491 shares of company stock worth $433,898. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted 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 valued at $417,151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,615 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake 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 buying an additional 685,995 shares in the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP grew its position in shares of FMC by 2,129.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 440,353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,037,000 after acquiring an additional 420,601 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in FMC by 2,531.3% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 253,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,695,000 after purchasing an additional 243,557 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of FMC by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 427,256 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,769,000 after acquiring an additional 143,770 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

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.