MML Investors Services LLC Lowers Position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

MML Investors Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 39.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,265 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,413 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in FMC were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp raised its position in shares of FMC by 186.2% in the 3rd quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp now owns 498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of FMC by 250.6% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of FMC by 56.9% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 678 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in FMC in the third quarter valued at $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 28,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,709,485.83. This trade represents a 13.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on FMC shares. Mizuho boosted their price objective on FMC from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on FMC from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of FMC from $75.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.69.

FMC Stock Performance

NYSE:FMC opened at $49.74 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a PE ratio of 4.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.80. FMC Co. has a twelve month low of $47.73 and a twelve month high of $68.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.20. FMC had a net margin of 34.93% and a return on equity of 7.68%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. FMC’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that FMC Co. will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.66%. FMC’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

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.