Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Sold by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lowered its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,048,535 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 323,501 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.70% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $394,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 89.4% in the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 8,292,873 shares during the period. Crake Asset Management LLP raised its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in 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 worth $150,781,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856,302 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,813,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 139.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,327,245 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $187,586,000 after purchasing an additional 2,518,641 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.59.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $1,868,202.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 76,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,816,035. This trade represents a 27.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 152,960 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.65, for a total value of $9,888,864.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 3,356,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,975,679.35. This trade represents a 4.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $59.15 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.81. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $69.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.18, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 19.87%.

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.