Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Raises Stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) by 29.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 10,127 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC's holdings in FMC were worth $2,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WP Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in FMC by 3.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of FMC by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 990 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of FMC by 0.8% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.86% of the company's stock.

FMC Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FMC traded down $0.32 during trading on Monday, hitting $39.70. 156,984 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,050,173. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.80. FMC Co. has a 1-year low of $32.83 and a 1-year high of $68.55. The business's 50 day moving average is $39.16 and its 200-day moving average is $46.36.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.10. FMC had a net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 9.67%. The company had revenue of $791.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $783.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. FMC's revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. FMC's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ronaldo Pereira bought 5,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $35.77 per share, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 12.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson acquired 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $37.33 per share, with a total value of $223,980.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $223,980. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FMC. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on FMC from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price (down from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on FMC from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of FMC from $70.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FMC presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.46.

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.