50,128 Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Sold by Matthews International Capital Management LLC

Matthews International Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,563 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 50,128 shares during the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan makes up 1.4% of Matthews International Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Matthews International Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 214,678 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $15,027,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. 71 West Capital Partners grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.6% during the third quarter. 71 West Capital Partners now owns 11,337 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth approximately $26,101,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.8% during the third quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,221 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 27.6% during the third quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 19,392 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,357,000 after buying an additional 4,189 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, Director Lydia Kennard sold 3,798 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.11, for a total value of $300,459.78. Following the sale, the director owned 122,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,706,955.22. The trade was a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Douglas Currault, II sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.56, for a total value of $6,284,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 211,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,577,416.96. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, August 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.30.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of FCX stock opened at $60.23 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $69.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.29. The company has a market cap of $86.50 billion, a PE ratio of 25.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 2.02. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $80.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The natural resource company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.36 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 13.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.0750 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 12.61%.

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. is a mining company focused primarily on the exploration, development and production of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its products serve industries including construction, manufacturing, electronics and energy. The company operates mines and related facilities in North America, South America and Indonesia. Its assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia and copper operations in the United States, Peru and Chile. Freeport-McMoRan traces its roots to Freeport Sulphur Company, founded in 1912, and has since developed into a major international mining business.