AXQ Capital LP Boosts Stake in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

AXQ Capital LP raised its position in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 535.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 18,649 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in FMC were worth $1,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millburn Ridgefield Corp increased its stake in shares of FMC by 186.2% during the 3rd quarter. Millburn Ridgefield Corp now owns 498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FMC during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of FMC by 217.4% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of FMC during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FMC. Vertical Research upgraded shares of FMC to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of FMC from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “cautious” rating on shares of FMC in a report on Thursday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets cut 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. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of FMC from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.15.

FMC Stock Performance

NYSE FMC opened at $41.62 on Friday. FMC Co. has a 52-week low of $33.80 and a 52-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 market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average of $44.12 and a 200-day moving average of $53.57.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.79 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that FMC Co. will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FMC Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. FMC’s payout ratio is presently 85.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FMC news, insider Ronaldo Pereira bought 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $35.77 per share, for a total transaction of $200,312.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,837 shares in the company, valued at $1,746,899.49. This trade represents a 12.95 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Finian Reilly sold 2,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.25, for a total transaction of $163,429.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,468 shares in the company, valued at $1,407,107. The trade was a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.