Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) CAO Stephen T. Higgins Sells 42,767 Shares

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $2,153,318.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,255,381.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $50.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.66, a P/E/G ratio of 7.92 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.84. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $52.52.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Argus lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.07.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.