Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. Trims Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. decreased its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 96,485 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 9,717 shares during the period. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 977 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total value of $2,985,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,917,475.70. This represents a 37.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $1,868,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 76,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,816,035. This represents a 27.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 603,140 shares of company stock worth $37,660,139. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 4.8%

NYSE FCX opened at $62.77 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $69.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.21 billion, a PE ratio of 41.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.41.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The company’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 19.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $53.50 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.59.

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.