Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 2,519 Shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 88.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in FMC were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barnett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in FMC during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,265,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of FMC by 27.8% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,483 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,867,000 after buying an additional 9,449 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank of Omaha lifted its holdings in FMC by 85.7% in the third quarter. First National Bank of Omaha now owns 33,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,238,000 after buying an additional 15,662 shares during the period. tru Independence LLC bought a new position in FMC in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,323,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in FMC by 118.4% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 58,752 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,874,000 after acquiring an additional 31,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at FMC

In related news, VP Jacqueline Scanlan sold 4,529 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 28,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,709,485.83. This trade represents a 13.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

FMC Price Performance

FMC stock opened at $53.50 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.17. FMC Co. has a 1 year low of $50.03 and a 1 year high of $68.72. The stock has a market cap of $6.68 billion, a PE ratio of 4.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

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

FMC Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. FMC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FMC. Mizuho raised their price target on FMC from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup started coverage on FMC in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of FMC from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.