Gabelli Funds LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Gabelli Funds LLC lowered its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 11.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,052,050 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 134,150 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $66,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 34.5% during the 1st 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 period. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,857,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,897,202,000 after buying an additional 8,891,743 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 205.4% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $868,000. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 7.7%

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $76.68 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.15 and a 1 year high of $77.33. The company has a market cap of $110.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.42.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced 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. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%.The business had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $992,251.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 54,618 shares in the company, valued at $3,795,951. This represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $334,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 36,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,520,000. This represents a 11.71% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 26,600 shares of company stock valued at $1,802,012 over the last three months. 0.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.27.

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.