American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,947,261 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 565,090 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.14% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $76,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 2,882 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 9,616 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $560,000. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 63.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 58,327 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,528,000 after purchasing an additional 22,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,565,063 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $241,245,000 after purchasing an additional 196,666 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $1,868,202.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 76,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,816,035. This trade represents a 27.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total transaction of $4,839,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 603,140 shares of company stock valued at $37,660,139. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.59.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $65.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.27 billion, a PE ratio of 43.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.41. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $69.75. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $60.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.95. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $5.63 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 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.