Royal Bank of Canada Acquires 82,950 Shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 637,815 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 82,950 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.51% of FMC worth $31,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in FMC during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in FMC by 217.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in FMC during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in FMC by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 990 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other FMC news, insider Ronaldo Pereira purchased 5,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $35.77 per share, for a total transaction of $200,312.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 48,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,746,899.49. The trade was a 12.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson purchased 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $37.33 per share, for a total transaction of $223,980.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $223,980. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

FMC Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE FMC traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $39.49. The company had a trading volume of 1,644,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,055,883. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. FMC Co. has a 1-year low of $32.83 and a 1-year high of $68.55. The firm's 50 day moving average is $38.77 and its 200-day moving average is $45.36.

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

FMC Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. FMC's payout ratio is presently 88.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on FMC shares. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price (down from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen cut FMC from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. Royal Bank of Canada cut FMC from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Redburn Atlantic cut FMC from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FMC currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $49.46.

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.