Heartland Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Heartland Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 53.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 120,958 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in FMC were worth $5,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FMC. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its position in shares of FMC by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 60,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,970,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its holdings in FMC by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 227,328 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,050,000 after purchasing an additional 39,230 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank of Omaha lifted its position in shares of FMC by 85.7% during the third quarter. First National Bank of Omaha now owns 33,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,238,000 after buying an additional 15,662 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in FMC by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,164,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,602,000 after purchasing an additional 28,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of FMC by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 164,887 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,015,000 after purchasing an additional 14,197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Carol Anthony Davidson bought 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $37.33 per share, with a total value of $223,980.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,980. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ronaldo Pereira acquired 5,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $35.77 per share, with a total value of $200,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 48,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,746,899.49. The trade was a 12.95 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FMC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of FMC from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price (down previously from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $66.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.15.

FMC Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FMC opened at $42.25 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $43.00 and a 200 day moving average of $52.87. FMC Co. has a one year low of $33.80 and a one year high of $68.72. The firm has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.64.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.14. FMC had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 8.03%. As a group, research analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

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.