Insider Selling: Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) CAO Sells 29,654 Shares of Stock

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) CAO Stephen Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $1,868,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 76,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,816,035. This trade represents a 27.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of NYSE FCX traded up $2.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $67.85. 20,289,523 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,140,730. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $97.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.47. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $69.44.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on FCX. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 target price on Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. CICC Research increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $50.40 to $64.40 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three 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 $60.73.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,332,957 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $6,619,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572,769 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 63,880,757 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,244,504,000 after buying an additional 622,343 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,873,136 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $3,193,327,000 after acquiring an additional 395,226 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,897,202,000 after acquiring an additional 8,891,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,431,326,000 after acquiring an additional 23,950,557 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.