Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Position in TechnipFMC plc (NYSE:FTI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of TechnipFMC plc (NYSE:FTI) by 84.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,818 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 117,133 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in TechnipFMC were worth $631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FTI. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in TechnipFMC by 23.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,639,244 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $98,838,000 after buying an additional 679,748 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TechnipFMC during the 4th quarter worth about $519,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in TechnipFMC by 971.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 407,638 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,692,000 after purchasing an additional 369,594 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in TechnipFMC by 15.3% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 865,294 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $22,697,000 after purchasing an additional 114,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in TechnipFMC in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,273,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of TechnipFMC from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of TechnipFMC in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of TechnipFMC from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on TechnipFMC in a research report on Monday, November 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on TechnipFMC from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.31.

TechnipFMC Price Performance

FTI stock opened at $26.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 1.54. 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 50 day moving average of $30.50 and a 200-day moving average of $28.61. TechnipFMC plc has a 12-month low of $21.64 and a 12-month high of $33.45.

TechnipFMC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. TechnipFMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.42%.

About TechnipFMC

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.