FMC (NYSE:FMC) Coverage Initiated at The Goldman Sachs Group

Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of FMC (NYSE:FMC) in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $51.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 22.07% from the stock’s current price.

FMC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on FMC from $70.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “cautious” rating on shares of FMC in a report on Thursday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho lowered their target price on FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FMC has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.14.

FMC Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE FMC opened at $41.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $44.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.34. FMC has a 52-week low of $33.80 and a 52-week high of $68.72.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 8.03%. Sell-side analysts expect that FMC will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ronaldo Pereira bought 5,600 shares of FMC stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $35.77 per share, for a total transaction of $200,312.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 48,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,746,899.49. The trade was a 12.95 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson bought 6,000 shares of FMC stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $37.33 per share, with a total value of $223,980.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $223,980. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FMC

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commerce Bank raised its stake in FMC by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. WP Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of FMC by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 6,193 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of FMC by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of FMC by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of FMC by 90.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

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.