BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Buys 82,000 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 215.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 120,000 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,000 shares during the quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $4,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FCX. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total transaction of $2,985,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,894 shares in the company, valued at $4,917,475.70. This represents a 37.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total transaction of $4,839,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 219,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,141,558.12. This represents a 25.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 603,140 shares of company stock worth $37,660,139. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of FCX stock opened at $60.42 on Tuesday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $69.75. 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 stock has a market cap of $86.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.01, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $60.98 and a 200-day moving average of $49.53.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. The company 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. On average, equities 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 paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis 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 currently 19.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the subject of several research reports. CICC Research increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $50.40 to $64.40 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. HSBC boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Clarkson Capital upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. One equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, 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.