Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for FMC (NYSE:FMC) Stock Price

FMC (NYSE:FMC) had its price target reduced by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $46.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 29.01% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on FMC. Barclays upgraded FMC from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho cut their price objective on FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America upgraded FMC from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on FMC from $75.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FMC currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.62.

FMC Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:FMC opened at $35.66 on Wednesday. FMC has a 52-week low of $34.00 and a 52-week high of $68.72. The stock has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.07, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $52.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.53.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.67, for a total value of $270,245.43. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 28,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,709,485.83. This represents a 13.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total value of $163,429.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at $1,407,107. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,491 shares of company stock worth $433,898. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of FMC

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FMC. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in FMC by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 36,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,129,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in FMC during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,307,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FMC by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,731 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of FMC by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 35,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,314,000 after buying an additional 9,500 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of FMC by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 25,427 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after buying an additional 1,642 shares during the period. 91.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About FMC

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.