Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 2,402 Shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,402 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in FMC were worth $1,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FMC. Millburn Ridgefield Corp boosted its stake 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. boosted its stake in shares of FMC by 90.8% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FMC during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of FMC during the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of FMC during the third quarter valued at about $58,000. Institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total transaction of $163,429.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,407,107. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Carol Anthony Davidson purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $37.33 per share, with a total value of $223,980.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,980. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on FMC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on FMC in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered FMC from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on FMC from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down from $61.00) on shares of FMC in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on FMC from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.14.

FMC Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of FMC stock opened at $42.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.70, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.64. FMC Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.80 and a fifty-two week high of $68.72.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 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%. Research analysts forecast that FMC Co. will post 3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.43%. FMC’s dividend 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.