Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Sells 925 Shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC trimmed its position in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,120 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 925 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in FMC were worth $297,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FMC in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp boosted its holdings in shares of FMC by 186.2% in the third quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp now owns 498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FMC by 90.8% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FMC by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 990 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of FMC in the third quarter worth $51,000. 91.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FMC Trading Up 3.8 %

NYSE FMC opened at $38.02 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.22. FMC Co. has a twelve month low of $33.80 and a twelve month high of $68.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.98, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.84.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 8.03%. Research analysts forecast that FMC Co. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.10%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (down from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded FMC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on FMC from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on FMC from $70.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.23.

Insider Transactions at FMC

In other news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of FMC stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,407,107. The trade was a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.