Weiss Asset Management LP Invests $3.72 Million in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC – Get Rating) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 35,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,723,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PGGM Investments acquired a new position in FMC during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,578,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of FMC by 41.5% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,581,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $208,094,000 after purchasing an additional 463,542 shares during the period. Glenview Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in FMC by 112.8% during the 2nd quarter. Glenview Capital Management LLC now owns 758,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $81,167,000 after purchasing an additional 401,978 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC increased its stake in FMC by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 1,727,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $182,566,000 after buying an additional 398,785 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in FMC by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,085,382 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $326,126,000 after buying an additional 386,465 shares in the last quarter. 88.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FMC Stock Performance

Shares of FMC opened at $116.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.43. FMC Co. has a 1 year low of $98.24 and a 1 year high of $140.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $127.42 and a 200-day moving average of $121.98. The company has a market cap of $14.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.84.

FMC (NYSE:FMC – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The basic materials company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.05. FMC had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 29.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. FMC’s revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that FMC Co. will post 7.92 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st will be given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 30th. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FMC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their target price on FMC from $140.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of FMC from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. Redburn Partners upgraded FMC from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday. Credit Suisse Group upped their price objective on FMC from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on FMC in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at FMC

In other news, insider Nicholas Pfeiffer sold 4,421 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total value of $573,403.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,564,700.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Andrew D. Sandifer sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.77, for a total transaction of $638,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 39,061 shares in the company, valued at $4,990,823.97. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Pfeiffer sold 4,421 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.70, for a total value of $573,403.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,564,700.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,376 shares of company stock valued at $1,465,016 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

FMC Profile

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FMC Corp. is an agricultural sciences company, which engages in the provision of solutions to growers and development of pipeline in crop protection, plant health, precision agriculture, and professional pest, and turf management. It offers insect control products under the Rynaxypyr and Cyazypyr brands, herbicides under the Authority, Boral, Centium, Command, and Gamit brands, insecticides under the Talstar and Hero brands, flutriafol-based fungicides, and bionematicides under the Quartzo and Presence brands.