BNP Paribas Financial Markets Increases Stock Holdings in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 139.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 187,028 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 108,978 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in FMC were worth $12,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FMC. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of FMC by 90.8% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of FMC by 250.6% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of FMC by 56.9% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 678 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of FMC during the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in FMC in the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FMC Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of FMC stock opened at $59.09 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.58. The firm has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a PE ratio of 5.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.85. FMC Co. has a 1-year low of $50.03 and a 1-year high of $68.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.20. FMC had a net margin of 34.93% and a return on equity of 7.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FMC news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of FMC stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.67, for a total value of $270,245.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 28,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,709,485.83. The trade was a 13.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of FMC from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of FMC from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of FMC from $50.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays upped their price target on FMC from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on FMC in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.00.

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.