Sprott Inc. Sells 305 Shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Sprott Inc. reduced its stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,488 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 305 shares during the period. Sprott Inc.’s holdings in FMC were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FMC. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FMC during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Millburn Ridgefield Corp boosted its position in shares of FMC by 186.2% during the third quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp now owns 498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in FMC by 90.8% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in FMC by 65.3% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in FMC by 34.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 990 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at FMC

In other news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total value of $163,429.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at $1,407,107. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Vertical Research raised shares of FMC to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group lowered shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $66.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho cut their price target on FMC from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (down previously from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.23.

FMC Price Performance

NYSE FMC opened at $38.21 on Thursday. FMC Co. has a one year low of $33.80 and a one year high of $68.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $47.20 and a 200 day moving average of $56.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.84.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that FMC Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued 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 6.07%. FMC’s payout ratio 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.