Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 40,357 FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 40,357 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,962,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WP Advisors LLC lifted its stake in FMC by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. WP Advisors LLC now owns 6,193 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of FMC by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,604 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,620 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 34.7% in the 4th 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. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in FMC by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 36,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,761,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. 91.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of FMC from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of FMC in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FMC from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of FMC from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $49.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FMC presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

FMC Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of FMC stock traded up $1.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.61. 3,834,856 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,029,587. FMC Co. has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $68.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.80. The stock's fifty day moving average is $38.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.93.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.10. FMC had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 8.03%. The firm had revenue of $791.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $783.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. The business's revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. FMC's payout ratio is presently 88.55%.

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.