Aviance Capital Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 20,329 FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 20,329 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $858,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in FMC by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 36,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,761,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in FMC by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 59,771 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,905,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in FMC by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 59,052 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,871,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in FMC by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 54,754 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,662,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in FMC by 65.3% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 959 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on FMC. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of FMC in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho upgraded shares of FMC from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $49.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of FMC from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $41.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of FMC from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of FMC from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $50.15.

FMC Stock Down 0.6%

FMC traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $44.20. 831,237 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,028,781. FMC Corporation has a 12-month low of $32.83 and a 12-month high of $68.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.63 and a 200 day moving average of $42.54. The firm has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.10. FMC had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 9.12%. The firm had revenue of $791.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $783.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that FMC Corporation will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. FMC's payout ratio is currently 88.55%.

FMC Company 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.