KBC Group NV Sells 16,827 Shares of FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC)

KBC Group NV reduced its holdings in shares of FMC Corporation (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) by 75.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,515 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 16,827 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in FMC were worth $233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in FMC by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,164,403 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $56,602,000 after purchasing an additional 28,059 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of FMC during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,505,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in FMC during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,573,000. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in FMC during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $914,000. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FMC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on FMC in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on FMC from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of FMC from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho raised shares of FMC from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of FMC from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.23.

FMC Trading Down 2.3%

FMC stock traded down $1.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $43.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,266,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,025,732. FMC Corporation has a one year low of $32.83 and a one year high of $68.55. The stock has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.63 and a 200-day moving average of $42.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.54.

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 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 analyst estimates of $783.70 million. FMC had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 9.12%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that FMC Corporation will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders 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 5.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. FMC's dividend payout ratio is 88.55%.

About FMC

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.