Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Decreases Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 756,064 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 20,762 shares during the period. Freeport-McMoRan makes up approximately 2.9% of Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC owned 0.05% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $29,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 89.4% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 17,569,169 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $761,623,000 after purchasing an additional 8,292,873 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth $159,147,000. Crake Asset Management LLP boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 60.6% during the second quarter. Crake Asset Management LLP now owns 9,522,673 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $412,808,000 after purchasing an additional 3,593,050 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 289.0% in the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 3,844,504 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $150,781,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 205.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,186,621 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $181,490,000 after purchasing an additional 2,813,845 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total transaction of $1,364,019.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 105,294 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,059.06. This represents a 21.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total transaction of $456,201.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 38,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,847,349.26. The trade was a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on FCX. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.40.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX opened at $60.76 on Tuesday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $69.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.72. The company has a market capitalization of $87.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.24, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.19. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 19.87%.

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.