Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Grows Stock Position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its holdings in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 27.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,720 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,024 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in FMC were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in FMC in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp raised its stake in FMC by 186.2% in the third quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp now owns 498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in FMC by 90.8% in the third 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. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in FMC by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 990 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of FMC in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on FMC from $70.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on FMC from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a report 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, thirteen have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total value of $163,429.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at $1,407,107. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

FMC Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of FMC opened at $37.69 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. FMC Co. has a 12 month low of $33.80 and a 12 month high of $68.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $48.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.09. The firm has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.84.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 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%. Analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.15%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.29%.

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.