Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) CAO Stephen T. Higgins Sells 43,900 Shares

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total transaction of $2,242,412.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,331,577.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX opened at $50.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.92 and a beta of 2.02. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.83 and a 12 month high of $52.52. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The business had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid 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 was Friday, April 12th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on FCX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. HSBC increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.07.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 13,248.4% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,351,630 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $227,747,000 after purchasing an additional 5,311,538 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth $160,160,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth $141,407,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 57.4% in the third quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,391,230 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $201,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 302.7% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,393,264 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $112,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,799,028 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.