Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in TechnipFMC plc $FTI

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group reduced its TechnipFMC stake by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, though it still held 869,879 shares worth about $38.8 million at the end of the period.
• TechnipFMC reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.64 per share, topping estimates, while revenue rose 11.6% year over year to $2.49 billion.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on the stock, with several firms raising price targets; MarketBeat says TechnipFMC has a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $66.53.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of TechnipFMC plc (NYSE:FTI - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 869,879 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 43,017 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.22% of TechnipFMC worth $38,762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FTI. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of TechnipFMC by 62.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,884,052 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $508,276,000 after purchasing an additional 4,938,498 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of TechnipFMC by 34.0% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 13,316,569 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $525,339,000 after purchasing an additional 3,378,159 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of TechnipFMC by 184.0% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,802,525 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $189,460,000 after purchasing an additional 3,111,399 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of TechnipFMC by 80.6% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,172,213 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $125,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of TechnipFMC during the third quarter worth $52,848,000. 96.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other TechnipFMC news, CFO Alf Melin sold 83,721 shares of TechnipFMC stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.83, for a total value of $5,176,469.43. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 282,537 shares in the company, valued at $17,469,262.71. The trade was a 22.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Luana Duffe sold 47,951 shares of TechnipFMC stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.43, for a total value of $2,993,580.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 78,871 shares in the company, valued at $4,923,916.53. This trade represents a 37.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 1,216,442 shares of company stock valued at $75,762,414 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

TechnipFMC Stock Performance

Shares of TechnipFMC stock opened at $70.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $27.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. TechnipFMC plc has a 12 month low of $28.87 and a 12 month high of $77.78. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $69.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.04.

TechnipFMC (NYSE:FTI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. TechnipFMC had a return on equity of 34.06% and a net margin of 10.62%.The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that TechnipFMC plc will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TechnipFMC Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on TechnipFMC from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of TechnipFMC in a research report on Friday, May 1st. HSBC downgraded TechnipFMC from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on TechnipFMC from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on TechnipFMC from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, TechnipFMC has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.53.

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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