Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Shares in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 114,640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,573,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.09% of FMC as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Commerce Bank grew its stake in shares of FMC by 3.7% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. WP Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in FMC by 3.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in FMC by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of FMC by 90.8% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FMC Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:FMC opened at $41.79 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a PE ratio of 15.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. FMC Co. has a 12-month low of $33.80 and a 12-month high of $68.72. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.29.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 8.03%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.55%. FMC’s payout ratio is 85.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FMC

In related news, Director Carol Anthony Davidson acquired 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $37.33 per share, for a total transaction of $223,980.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $223,980. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total transaction of $163,429.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,407,107. The trade was a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FMC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group lowered shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on FMC from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (down from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FMC currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.15.

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.