Cibc World Market Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 33.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 286,598 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 71,291 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $11,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted 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 purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $159,147,000. Crake Asset Management LLP grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $412,808,000 after acquiring an additional 3,593,050 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 289.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,856,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 205.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,186,621 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $181,490,000 after acquiring an additional 2,813,845 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Freeport-McMoRan

Here are the key news stories impacting Freeport-McMoRan this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane raised its price target on FCX to $75 (from $56) and kept an “outperform” rating — a sizeable lift to upside expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Argus upgraded FCX from “hold” to “buy,” reinforcing buy-side momentum and contributing to short‑term demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Other broker actions (Stifel raised its target to $76; UBS, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley have recently lifted targets) add to the analyst-driven narrative supporting higher valuations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks and other research outlets highlight rising earnings-estimate revisions and momentum characteristics for FCX, which can justify multiple expansion if commodity prices and volumes cooperate. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Increased media and analyst attention (multiple Zacks pieces, MSN/Yahoo coverage) is amplifying flows into FCX but is informational rather than a direct operational catalyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Grasberg production setbacks materially reduced Q4 copper/gold volumes, a real operational headwind that can limit near-term revenue despite stronger prices. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales: Chairman Richard Adkerson disclosed multi-hundred-thousand‑share disposals (Feb. 10–11 filings) totaling tens of millions of dollars — these trades can sap sentiment even if explained by diversification or tax planning. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Douglas Currault II sold 75,000 shares (~$4.8M); insider selling at the executive level is a nearer-term negative for perception of internal conviction. Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on FCX. Citigroup increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.26.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 1.3%

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $62.82 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $69.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $55.94 and its 200-day moving average is $46.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29. The company has a market cap of $90.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.60, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.47.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 19.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total value of $1,364,019.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 105,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,053,059.06. This trade represents a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total value of $4,839,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 219,181 shares in the company, valued at $14,141,558.12. The trade was a 25.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 513,986 shares of company stock valued at $32,124,432 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

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.