HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in TechnipFMC plc $FTI

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors increased its TechnipFMC stake by 54.7% in the fourth quarter, adding 16,562 shares to bring its total to 46,832 shares worth about $2.1 million.
• Analysts remain generally bullish on TechnipFMC (FTI), with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.00. Barclays recently raised its target to $87.00 and kept an overweight rating.
• The company beat quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.64 per share versus the $0.57 estimate, while revenue rose 11.6% year over year to $2.49 billion. TechnipFMC also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share, payable June 3.

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of TechnipFMC plc (NYSE:FTI - Free Report) by 54.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,832 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,562 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in TechnipFMC were worth $2,087,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in TechnipFMC by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,316,569 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $525,339,000 after acquiring an additional 3,378,159 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in TechnipFMC by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,884,052 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $508,276,000 after acquiring an additional 4,938,498 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in TechnipFMC by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,861,982 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $389,018,000 after acquiring an additional 192,549 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in TechnipFMC by 184.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,802,525 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $189,460,000 after acquiring an additional 3,111,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in TechnipFMC by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,763,630 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $187,942,000 after acquiring an additional 137,507 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on FTI shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of TechnipFMC from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of TechnipFMC from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. HSBC cut shares of TechnipFMC from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group set a $70.00 price objective on shares of TechnipFMC in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of TechnipFMC from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.00.

Insider Transactions at TechnipFMC

In other news, insider Jonathan Landes sold 116,194 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.20, for a total value of $7,227,266.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 71,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,438,343.20. This represents a 61.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Justin Rounce sold 172,276 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.10, for a total transaction of $10,698,339.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 119,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,431,320.70. This represents a 59.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,210,092 shares of company stock worth $75,347,124. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

TechnipFMC Stock Performance

TechnipFMC stock opened at $68.21 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.65. TechnipFMC plc has a 1-year low of $30.86 and a 1-year high of $77.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $27.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.69.

TechnipFMC (NYSE:FTI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. TechnipFMC had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 34.06%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that TechnipFMC plc will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

TechnipFMC Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 19th. TechnipFMC's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

TechnipFMC Profile

TechnipFMC is an integrated oilfield services and technology company that designs, manufactures and delivers systems and services for the energy industry. The company's activities span the full lifecycle of oil and gas projects, with capabilities in subsea production systems, surface wellhead and intervention equipment, and onshore/offshore engineering and construction. TechnipFMC combines engineering and project management with fabrication, installation and maintenance services to help operators develop and produce hydrocarbon resources.

Its product and service portfolio includes subsea hardware such as trees, manifolds, umbilicals, risers and flowlines, as well as surface equipment for drilling, completions and well intervention.

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