Tweedy Browne Co LLC Trims Stock Holdings in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Tweedy Browne Co LLC lessened its holdings in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,862,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 263,387 shares during the period. FMC accounts for approximately 9.4% of Tweedy Browne Co LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Tweedy Browne Co LLC owned 2.29% of FMC worth $139,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 180,766 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in FMC by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,271,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $417,151,000 after buying an additional 1,343,615 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in FMC by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,995,691 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $145,452,000 after buying an additional 54,017 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 685,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $90,466,000 after acquiring an additional 241,582 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

FMC Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FMC opened at $42.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.61. The company has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. FMC Co. has a twelve month low of $33.80 and a twelve month high of $68.72.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts expect that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FMC Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FMC 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 directly owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,407,107. The trade was a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ronaldo Pereira bought 5,600 shares of FMC stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $35.77 per share, with a total value of $200,312.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 48,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,746,899.49. This represents a 12.95 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $78.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded FMC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.15.

About FMC

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.