Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) CAO Sells 14,277 Shares

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) CAO Stephen Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $992,251.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 54,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,795,951. This trade represents a 20.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE:FCX traded up $2.15 on Wednesday, reaching $69.45. 17,107,993 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,398,715. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $99.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.37. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.15 and a 52 week high of $72.28. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.67.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 14.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.27.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FCX. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 221,838 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $11,267,000 after purchasing an additional 73,002 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 34.5% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,062,916 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $62,478,000 after purchasing an additional 272,726 shares during the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,857,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,897,202,000 after buying an additional 8,891,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 205.4% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 317,429 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $16,122,000 after buying an additional 213,477 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

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.