Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Bought by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 307,368 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 16,223 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $15,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FCX. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Freedom Capital raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.14.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $1,868,202.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,816,035. The trade was a 27.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 3.7%

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $60.88 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.17. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.15 and a 12-month high of $70.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $87.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.32.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 15.96%.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.