Marathon Asset Management Ltd Lowers Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Marathon Asset Management Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 238,706 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 10,596 shares during the quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $12,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Leo Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 6,838 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 924 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,687 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,119 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 64,438 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,273,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $1,868,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 76,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,816,035. The trade was a 27.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 3.1%

NYSE FCX opened at $58.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.39. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $35.15 and a one year high of $70.96. The firm has a market cap of $84.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.32.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 15.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Argus raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.14.

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.