Bryce Point Capital LLC Invests $560,000 in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 11,520 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $560,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in FMC by 27.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,271,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $417,151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,615 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in FMC in the 4th quarter valued at $49,888,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in FMC by 48.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 685,995 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its stake in FMC by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 1,861,057 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $90,466,000 after acquiring an additional 241,582 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of FMC by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,291,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $743,338,000 after acquiring an additional 180,766 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lowered their target price 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. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of FMC from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of FMC from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “cautious” rating on shares of FMC in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Vertical Research raised FMC to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of FMC stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,407,107. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson acquired 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $37.33 per share, with a total value of $223,980.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,980. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

FMC Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of FMC opened at $42.55 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. FMC Co. has a 12-month low of $33.80 and a 12-month high of $68.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last released 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.