WASHINGTON TRUST Co Raises Stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 35.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 491 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in FMC were worth $92,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FMC. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of FMC in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp raised 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised 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 valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FMC in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of FMC in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FMC Stock Performance

FMC opened at $36.65 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $49.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.59. The company has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.84. FMC Co. has a 52-week low of $33.80 and a 52-week 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.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 EPS 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that FMC Co. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.33%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

Insider Activity at FMC

In related news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at $1,407,107. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on FMC. Bank of America restated 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. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.62.

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.