Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. Sells 363,868 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. lowered its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 72.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,703 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 363,868 shares during the quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $5,479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 977 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 3.0%

NYSE FCX opened at $62.29 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $61.19 and its 200-day moving average is $49.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.25, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.41. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $27.66 and a one year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 was Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on FCX. Argus raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 price objective on Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Clarkson Capital upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.59.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total transaction 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 approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 152,960 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.65, for a total value of $9,888,864.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 3,356,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $216,975,679.35. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 603,140 shares of company stock worth $37,660,139 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.