Norges Bank Buys New Position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,026,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,888,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.82% of FMC as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of FMC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $743,338,000 after purchasing an additional 180,766 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised 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 buying an additional 1,343,615 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 48.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of FMC by 2.5% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 28,059 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in FMC by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 589,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,634,000 after acquiring an additional 46,137 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Carol Anthony Davidson acquired 6,000 shares of FMC stock in a transaction that occurred 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 purchase, the director now owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $223,980. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,407,107. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

FMC Stock Performance

NYSE FMC opened at $35.33 on Friday. The stock 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.54 and a 200 day moving average of $52.10. 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.

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, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that FMC Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid 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 dividend yield of 6.57%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FMC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America reiterated 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. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of FMC in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Vertical Research upgraded shares of FMC to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lowered shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, FMC presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.15.

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.