Trexquant Investment LP Takes Position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 91,964 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,470,000. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.07% of FMC at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,343,615 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in FMC during the fourth quarter valued at $49,888,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew 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 purchasing an additional 685,995 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its position in FMC by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 1,861,057 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $90,466,000 after purchasing an additional 241,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of FMC by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,291,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $743,338,000 after purchasing an additional 180,766 shares in the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FMC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Vertical Research upgraded FMC to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of FMC from $70.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of FMC from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group cut FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FMC presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.15.

FMC Stock Performance

NYSE FMC opened at $35.33 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $41.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.24. FMC Co. has a 52-week low of $33.80 and a 52-week high of $68.72.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that FMC Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. FMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ronaldo Pereira acquired 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $35.77 per share, for a total transaction of $200,312.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson acquired 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $37.33 per share, with a total value of $223,980.00. Following the completion of 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. Corporate insiders own 0.67% 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.