Aberdeen Group plc Sells 711,687 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Aberdeen Group plc decreased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 37.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,203,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 711,687 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.08% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $46,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in 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 worth $761,623,000 after buying an additional 8,292,873 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $159,147,000. Crake Asset Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 60.6% during the 2nd quarter. Crake Asset Management LLP now owns 9,522,673 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $412,808,000 after acquiring an additional 3,593,050 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 289.0% in the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 3,844,504 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $150,781,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 205.0% in the 2nd 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FCX shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.26.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total value of $4,839,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 219,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,141,558.12. This trade represents a 25.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was 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 directly 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 513,986 shares of company stock valued at $32,124,432 over the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:FCX opened at $62.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $90.21 billion, a PE ratio of 41.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.47. 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 50 day simple moving average of $56.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.06. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $69.44.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is 19.87%.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.