Insider Buying: FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) Insider Purchases 5,600 Shares of Stock

FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) insider Ronaldo Pereira acquired 5,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $35.77 per share, for a total transaction of $200,312.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 48,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,746,899.49. The trade was a 12.95 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

FMC Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FMC traded up $2.84 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.44. 2,180,591 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,925,869. The company has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.54. FMC Co. 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 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 analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.88%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on FMC. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $78.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered FMC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Vertical Research upgraded FMC to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.23.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FMC

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in shares of FMC by 7.2% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 14,515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in FMC by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc purchased a new stake in FMC during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $681,000. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of FMC by 5.6% during the third quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 13,271 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $875,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Enhancement Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of FMC in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,940,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Company 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.