Shell Asset Management Co. Reduces Stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Shell Asset Management Co. trimmed its position in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 25.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,372 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in FMC were worth $661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of FMC by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,547,766 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $791,137,000 after buying an additional 1,666,096 shares in the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC raised its position in FMC by 105.1% during the fourth quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,961,857 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $186,745,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518,053 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of FMC in the fourth quarter valued at about $83,227,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of FMC by 5.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,290,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $973,987,000 after purchasing an additional 768,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of FMC by 517.5% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 809,382 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,032,000 after purchasing an additional 678,307 shares in the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FMC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on FMC from $65.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Barclays started coverage on shares of FMC in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of FMC from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of FMC from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of FMC from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FMC has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.71.

FMC Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE FMC traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.31. The stock had a trading volume of 265,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,933,558. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. FMC Co. has a 1-year low of $49.49 and a 1-year high of $96.81. The company has a market capitalization of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.58, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.73.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. FMC had a net margin of 27.65% and a return on equity of 7.68%. The firm had revenue of $918.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. FMC’s revenue was down 31.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

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.