Advisors Asset Management Inc. Increases Stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 69.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 73,851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 30,368 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. owned 0.06% of FMC worth $3,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of FMC by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,271,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $417,151,000 after buying an additional 1,343,615 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of FMC by 48.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,088,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $101,509,000 after acquiring an additional 685,995 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of FMC by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,164,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,602,000 after acquiring an additional 28,059 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of FMC by 8.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,668 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Price Performance

FMC stock opened at $42.26 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last released 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 return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 8.03%. Equities analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FMC shares. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price (down previously from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “cautious” rating on shares of FMC in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays cut their target price on FMC from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup lifted 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, Royal Bank of Canada lowered FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ronaldo Pereira bought 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $35.77 per share, with a total value of $200,312.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 48,837 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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, for a total transaction of $223,980.00. Following the acquisition, 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. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

FMC 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.