Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Trims Holdings in FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lessened its holdings in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 185,420 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 29,662 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned about 0.15% of FMC worth $11,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FMC. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in FMC by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 10,326 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in FMC during the 1st quarter valued at about $191,000. Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FMC during the 1st quarter worth approximately $224,000. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in shares of FMC during the 1st quarter worth approximately $383,000. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of FMC by 872,245.0% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 174,469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,955,000 after acquiring an additional 174,449 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FMC news, CFO Andrew D. Sandifer purchased 2,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $59.22 per share, for a total transaction of $127,323.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 50,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,966,211.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

FMC Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:FMC opened at $57.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.87. FMC Co. has a one year low of $49.49 and a one year high of $124.61. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $58.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.26.

FMC (NYSE:FMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.01). FMC had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 29.45%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that FMC Co. will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

FMC Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. FMC’s payout ratio is presently 22.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FMC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America downgraded FMC from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $57.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded FMC from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp upped their target price on FMC from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on FMC from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on FMC in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, FMC currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.75.

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.