Axa S.A. Trims Holdings in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

AXA S.A. decreased its stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) by 18.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,369 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,986 shares during the period. AXA S.A.'s holdings in FMC were worth $1,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FMC. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FMC during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of FMC by 217.4% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in FMC during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in FMC by 65.3% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 959 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.86% of the company's stock.

FMC Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FMC traded up $1.44 during trading on Monday, reaching $38.23. The company had a trading volume of 2,370,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,049,218. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.22. FMC Co. has a 12 month low of $32.83 and a 12 month high of $68.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.80.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $791.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $783.70 million. FMC had a net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 9.67%. The firm's revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.07%. FMC's payout ratio is presently 88.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FMC shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of FMC from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut FMC from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $48.00 target price (down from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on FMC from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at FMC

In other FMC news, Director Carol Anthony Davidson bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $37.33 per share, for a total transaction of $223,980.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 6,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $223,980. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ronaldo Pereira purchased 5,600 shares of FMC stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $35.77 per share, with a total value of $200,312.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 48,837 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,746,899.49. This represents a 12.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

FMC 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.