Barclays Cuts FMC (NYSE:FMC) Price Target to $48.00

FMC (NYSE:FMC) had its price objective trimmed by Barclays from $65.00 to $48.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

FMC has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of FMC from $79.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (down from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.

FMC Stock Performance

NYSE FMC opened at $34.51 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $51.99 and its 200-day moving average is $58.39. The firm has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.84. FMC has a 12-month low of $33.80 and a 12-month high of $68.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 9.67%. Sell-side analysts predict that FMC will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.72%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FMC news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total transaction of $163,429.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,407,107. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FMC

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of FMC by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,271,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $417,151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,615 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 48.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,088,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $101,509,000 after buying an additional 685,995 shares during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 2,129.4% during the third quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 440,353 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,037,000 after buying an additional 420,601 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of FMC by 2,531.3% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 253,179 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,695,000 after acquiring an additional 243,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in FMC by 50.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 427,256 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,769,000 after acquiring an additional 143,770 shares during the last quarter. 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.