Harmony Asset Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Harmony Asset Management LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 55,976 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 12,276 shares during the quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.8% during the second quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 30,333 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% in the second quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 45,133 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,957,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 45,095 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.9% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.1% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on FCX shares. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Clarkson Capital upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $58.40.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX stock opened at $61.82 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50 day moving average of $53.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.97. The company has a market cap of $88.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.94, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.47. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $69.44.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced 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. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The business had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 19.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 38,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,847,349.26. This trade represents a 19.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total transaction of $1,364,019.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 105,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,059.06. This represents a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.