FMC (NYSE:FMC) Cut to "Sell" at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of FMC (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Saturday.

FMC has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on FMC from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. KeyCorp upped their target price on FMC from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on FMC from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on FMC in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.46.

FMC Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE FMC traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.09. 1,577,471 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,057,175. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.80. FMC has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $68.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.84 and a 200 day moving average of $45.40.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $791.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $783.70 million. FMC had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 8.03%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that FMC will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.94%. FMC's payout ratio is 88.55%.

Insider Transactions at FMC

In related news, Director Carol Anthony Davidson bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $37.33 per share, for a total transaction of $223,980.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $223,980. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ronaldo Pereira bought 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $35.77 per share, for a total transaction of $200,312.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 48,837 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,746,899.49. The trade was a 12.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of FMC

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in FMC by 1,199.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,621,496 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $151,071,000 after purchasing an additional 3,342,888 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in FMC by 286.0% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,494,377 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $189,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329,974 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in FMC during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,888,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in FMC by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,559,107 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $173,008,000 after purchasing an additional 977,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in FMC by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,286,177 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $111,131,000 after purchasing an additional 707,727 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company's stock.

FMC Company 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.