Mmbg Investment Advisors CO. Acquires 12,905 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Mmbg Investment Advisors CO. boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 185.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,865 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,905 shares during the quarter. Mmbg Investment Advisors CO.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $779,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 30,333 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 45,133 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,957,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 45,095 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.9% in the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 6,658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.1% during the third quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,491 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total value of $456,201.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 38,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,847,349.26. This trade represents a 19.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 152,960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.65, for a total transaction of $9,888,864.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 3,356,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,975,679.35. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 513,986 shares of company stock valued at $32,124,432 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on FCX. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $53.50 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.26.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $62.82 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $55.94 and a 200-day moving average of $46.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.21 billion, a PE ratio of 41.60, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $69.44.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 19.87%.

Freeport-McMoRan News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Freeport-McMoRan this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane raised its price target on FCX to $75 (from $56) and kept an “outperform” rating — a sizeable lift to upside expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Argus upgraded FCX from “hold” to “buy,” reinforcing buy-side momentum and contributing to short?term demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Other broker actions (Stifel raised its target to $76; UBS, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley have recently lifted targets) add to the analyst-driven narrative supporting higher valuations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks and other research outlets highlight rising earnings-estimate revisions and momentum characteristics for FCX, which can justify multiple expansion if commodity prices and volumes cooperate. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Increased media and analyst attention (multiple Zacks pieces, MSN/Yahoo coverage) is amplifying flows into FCX but is informational rather than a direct operational catalyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Grasberg production setbacks materially reduced Q4 copper/gold volumes, a real operational headwind that can limit near-term revenue despite stronger prices. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales: Chairman Richard Adkerson disclosed multi-hundred-thousand?share disposals (Feb. 10–11 filings) totaling tens of millions of dollars — these trades can sap sentiment even if explained by diversification or tax planning. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Douglas Currault II sold 75,000 shares (~$4.8M); insider selling at the executive level is a nearer-term negative for perception of internal conviction. Read More.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.