Banco Santander S.A. Raises Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Banco Santander S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 108,951 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after buying an additional 41,470 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $4,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FCX. Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,551,258 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $60,840,000 after acquiring an additional 115,285 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 278.4% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,157 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 33,959 shares during the period. Arrow Capital Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 88.5% in the second quarter. Arrow Capital Pty Ltd now owns 113,100 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $4,903,000 after purchasing an additional 53,100 shares in the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.7% in the third quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 383,488 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $15,213,000 after purchasing an additional 20,586 shares during the period. Finally, Momentum Wealth Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,459,000. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $1,868,202.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 76,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,816,035. The trade was a 27.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 152,960 shares of the 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 transaction, the chairman owned 3,356,159 shares in the company, valued at $216,975,679.35. This trade represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 603,140 shares of company stock worth $37,660,139 in the last three months. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE:FCX opened at $68.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $97.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.05, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.47. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $59.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.52. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $69.75.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 19.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FCX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $53.50 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.59.

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.