On June 20, 2023, the National Pension Service made headlines for reducing its position in shares of FMC Co. (NYSE:FMC) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. This news was confirmed through a recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The company now owns only 179,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 15,821 shares during the period and it is worth $22,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Despite this reduction in shares by National Pension Service, FMC still remains financially sound and announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 30th will be given a $0.58 dividend which represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. It is important to note that ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 29th while FMC’s dividend payout ratio is currently estimated at around 40.49%.
FMC has also been in the news recently because CEO Mark Douglas purchased over four thousand shares of the firm’s stock back in May earlier this year. In particular he bought them at an average cost price of $115.53 per share for an impressive total value of $476,099.13 following which he directly held more than forty-one thousand shares valued at approximately $4,814,366.16.
This comes as good news for investors who have been keeping an eye on FMC’s performance since it shows willingness from leadership to invest their own money into the company where they hold key positions and also signifies growing confidence among shareholders about the company’s future growth prospects.
In conclusion therefore it can be seen that despite some concerns over reduced position holdings amidst National Pension Service’s shareholders there remain actual signs of real optimism among those interested in FMC’s growth potential. Only the future can tell just how this plays out for both the company and investors alike.
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Institutional Investors Show Interest in FMC Co. Despite Mixed Ratings from Research Firms
FMC Co. has recently seen an increase in institutional investors buying and selling shares of the company, with a number of firms acquiring positions in the basic materials company during the 4th quarter of 2022. WealthPLAN Partners LLC invested around $2,124,000 to acquire a new position within FMC, while Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake by 9.3%, now owning over one million shares valued at over $200 million. Meanwhile, CreativeOne Wealth LLC and Point72 Middle East FZE also invested in the company in Q4 2022.
Despite this interest from institutional investors, FMC’s stock has received varying opinions from research firms commenting on its target price and potential hold rating. Recently, Wells Fargo & Company and Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target prices on FMC while Redburn Partners upgraded the stock to a buy rating with a set price target of $155. Mizuho also reduced their target price on FMC from $150 to $147. The average rating for FMC is currently set at Moderate Buy with an average target price of$143 by Bloomberg.com data.
FMC announced a quarterly dividend on June 20th that will be paid out to shareholders who held positions as recorded by Friday, June 30th; these individuals will receive a $0.58 dividend per share payable on Thursday, July 20th. This payout represents an annualised dividend of $2.32 and a yield of 2.17%. As it stands now, FMC’s dividend payout ratio is roughly 40%.
Trading for FMC opened at $106 on Tuesday; the company has seen its moving averages fluctuate between a low of just under $100 to above $134 for high set last year around this time.Furthermore,FMC Co.’s market capitalization is just short of $14billion currently along with a P/E ratio of 18.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.82. Overall, it should be interesting to see how the company performs throughout the year, with analysts forecasting FMC Co. to post EPS of around $7.77 by this year-end unless it experiences any significant changes within the market.