Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Sold by Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual Ltd lessened its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,551,350 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 236,919 shares during the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan accounts for 1.9% of Perpetual Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $129,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,551,258 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $60,840,000 after acquiring an additional 115,285 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 278.4% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,157 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 33,959 shares during the last quarter. Arrow Capital Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 88.5% during the second quarter. Arrow Capital Pty Ltd now owns 113,100 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,903,000 after purchasing an additional 53,100 shares during the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.7% during the third quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 383,488 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $15,213,000 after purchasing an additional 20,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Momentum Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at $3,459,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of FCX opened at $61.32 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $69.75. The company has a market capitalization of $88.13 billion, a PE ratio of 40.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The business’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.75.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 152,960 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.65, for a total value of $9,888,864.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 3,356,159 shares in the company, valued at $216,975,679.35. The trade was a 4.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total transaction of $4,839,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 219,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,141,558.12. This represents a 25.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918 in the last quarter. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.