Prudential Financial Inc. Decreases Stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,649 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in FMC were worth $3,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its holdings in FMC by 18.7% in the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 60,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,970,000 after buying an additional 9,500 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its stake in FMC by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 227,328 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,050,000 after purchasing an additional 39,230 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank of Omaha raised its holdings in FMC by 85.7% during the third quarter. First National Bank of Omaha now owns 33,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,238,000 after purchasing an additional 15,662 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in FMC by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,164,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,602,000 after purchasing an additional 28,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in FMC by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 164,887 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,015,000 after purchasing an additional 14,197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE FMC opened at $42.08 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. FMC Co. has a 12 month low of $33.80 and a 12 month high of $68.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.52 and a 200-day moving average of $52.46.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 9.67%. As a group, equities analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. FMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FMC news, insider Ronaldo Pereira purchased 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $35.77 per share, with a total value of $200,312.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 48,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,746,899.49. This trade represents a 12.95 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson acquired 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $37.33 per share, for a total transaction of $223,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,980. This trade 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FMC shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “cautious” rating on shares of FMC in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Vertical Research raised shares of FMC to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho reduced 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. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price target for the company. in a research 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.