Marshall Wace LLP Buys Shares of 53,303 FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 53,303 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,591,000.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Carol Anthony Davidson bought 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $37.33 per share, for a total transaction of $223,980.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $223,980. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ronaldo Pereira purchased 5,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $35.77 per share, with a total value of $200,312.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now 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. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FMC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on FMC in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of FMC from $51.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of FMC to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on FMC from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $49.15.

FMC Trading Down 7.7 %

NYSE:FMC traded down $3.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $38.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,563,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,048,980. FMC Co. has a twelve month low of $32.83 and a twelve month high of $68.72. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $39.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.67. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.83.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $791.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $783.70 million. FMC had a net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 9.67%. FMC's revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.99%. FMC's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.29%.

FMC 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.