Natixis Increases Stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Natixis lifted its holdings in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) by 347.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,121 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 45,898 shares during the period. Natixis' holdings in FMC were worth $2,874,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FMC in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of FMC by 217.4% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of FMC in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in FMC in the 3rd quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in FMC by 65.3% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 959 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company's stock.

FMC Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of FMC stock traded up $0.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.19. 1,554,943 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,044,941. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.83. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $39.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.89. FMC Co. has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $68.72.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 9.67%. As a group, research analysts forecast that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.63%. FMC's dividend payout ratio is presently 85.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on FMC. Mizuho upgraded FMC from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $49.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday. Barclays lowered their price objective on FMC from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Vertical Research upgraded FMC to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on FMC from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on FMC from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $48.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.