70,000 Shares in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) Purchased by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 70,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $4,414,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of FMC at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FMC. Keybank National Association OH lifted its position in shares of FMC by 4.3% during the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 5,088 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in shares of FMC by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 56,427 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,779,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 50.0% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 684 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC increased its position in shares of FMC by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC now owns 11,917 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $751,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in FMC by 42.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 984 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. 91.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FMC news, CFO Andrew D. Sandifer purchased 2,150 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.22 per share, with a total value of $127,323.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 50,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,966,211.36. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

FMC Price Performance

Shares of FMC stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $63.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,281,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,957,140. The stock's 50-day moving average is $61.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. FMC Co. has a 52 week low of $49.49 and a 52 week high of $111.95.

FMC (NYSE:FMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $918.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. FMC had a net margin of 27.65% and a return on equity of 7.68%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 31.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.77 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. FMC's payout ratio is 25.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FMC shares. Loop Capital raised their target price on FMC from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of FMC in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. BNP Paribas cut shares of FMC from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $56.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on FMC from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on FMC from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FMC has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $70.56.

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.