HighTower Advisors LLC Cuts Position in TechnipFMC plc (NYSE:FTI)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of TechnipFMC plc (NYSE:FTI) by 17.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,794 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 5,197 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in TechnipFMC were worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FTI. Oak Thistle LLC grew its stake in TechnipFMC by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 13,705 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in TechnipFMC by 4.8% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,223 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its holdings in TechnipFMC by 3.2% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 17,392 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in TechnipFMC by 2.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 26,963 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $702,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in TechnipFMC by 59.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,858 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. 96.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of TechnipFMC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of TechnipFMC in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded TechnipFMC from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on TechnipFMC in a report on Monday, November 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of TechnipFMC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, TechnipFMC has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.46.

TechnipFMC Stock Performance

TechnipFMC stock opened at $28.63 on Friday. TechnipFMC plc has a 1-year low of $18.33 and a 1-year high of $32.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.18 billion, a PE ratio of 18.84 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.05.

TechnipFMC (NYSE:FTI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.25. TechnipFMC had a net margin of 7.63% and a return on equity of 20.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.21 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that TechnipFMC plc will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TechnipFMC announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 9.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

TechnipFMC Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. TechnipFMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

TechnipFMC Profile

TechnipFMC plc engages in the energy projects, technologies, and systems and services businesses in Europe, Central Asia, North America, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Subsea and Surface Technologies. The Subsea segment engages in the design, engineering, procurement, manufacturing, fabrication, installation, and life of field services for subsea systems, subsea field infrastructure, and subsea pipe systems used in oil and gas production and transportation.