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 dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,255,381.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

NYSE:FCX opened at $50.45 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $32.83 and a one year high of $52.52. The stock has a market cap of $72.37 billion, a PE ratio of 44.65, 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 quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 2.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.87.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.70 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued 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 1.19%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on FCX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Bernstein Bank boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.07.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FCX. CM Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,342,000 after acquiring an additional 16,000 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its position 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 valued at $14,726,000 after purchasing an additional 20,894 shares during the period. Cadinha & Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 647,691 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $27,572,000 after purchasing an additional 240,340 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,508,085 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $279,977,000 after purchasing an additional 102,466 shares during the period. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 57.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,391,230 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $201,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,987 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

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.