NFJ Investment Group LLC Reduces Holdings in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

NFJ Investment Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 9.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 472,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 51,609 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC owned about 0.38% of FMC worth $31,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FMC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FMC by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,136,344 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $74,931,000 after acquiring an additional 20,350 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in FMC by 317.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,099,389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,160,000 after purchasing an additional 836,179 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of FMC by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 858,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,385,000 after purchasing an additional 17,381 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 9.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 721,879 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,543,000 after buying an additional 64,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New South Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of FMC by 1.5% in the third quarter. New South Capital Management Inc. now owns 665,979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,915,000 after buying an additional 9,834 shares during the last quarter. 91.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FMC Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE FMC traded up $0.62 on Tuesday, hitting $60.00. 107,046 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,650,324. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $61.38 and a 200 day moving average of $60.56. FMC Co. has a twelve month low of $50.03 and a twelve month high of $68.72. The company has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.80.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.20. FMC had a return on equity of 7.68% and a net margin of 34.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that FMC Co. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.67, for a total value of $270,245.43. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 28,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,709,485.83. This represents a 13.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About FMC

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.