Syntax Research Inc. Makes New Investment in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Syntax Research Inc. bought a new position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 30,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,463,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in FMC by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 93,991 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,569,000 after acquiring an additional 3,256 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in FMC during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,547,000. AXQ Capital LP lifted its position in FMC by 535.4% during the fourth quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 22,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 18,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in FMC by 224.6% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 135,056 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,565,000 after acquiring an additional 93,451 shares during the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on FMC. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of FMC from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, February 14th. Vertical Research raised shares of FMC to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $47.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.15.

FMC Stock Down 1.5 %

FMC opened at $41.62 on Monday. FMC Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.80 and a fifty-two week high of $68.72. 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 fifty day moving average of $44.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last released its 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, research analysts expect that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.57%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FMC

In other news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,407,107. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson acquired 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $37.33 per share, for a total transaction of $223,980.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $223,980. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.