Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Bought by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 111,194 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,082 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $4,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FCX. CM Management LLC grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 80.0% in the third quarter. CM Management LLC now owns 36,000 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 16,000 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 345,917 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $14,726,000 after purchasing an additional 20,894 shares in the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 647,691 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $27,572,000 after acquiring an additional 240,340 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,508,085 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $279,977,000 after acquiring an additional 102,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in 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 worth $201,039,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965,987 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,153,318.45. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,255,381.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total transaction of $2,859,450.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at $8,529,843.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 310,896 shares of company stock worth $15,811,399. 0.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE:FCX traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $51.00. 10,950,625 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,304,421. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $32.83 and a one year high of $52.52. The company has a market capitalization of $73.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.13, a P/E/G ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 2.02. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $45.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.91. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 6.97% and a return on equity of 7.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on FCX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $49.50 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.07.

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

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.