Czech National Bank Purchases 13,862 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 378,519 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,862 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $19,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FCX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.59.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were 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 directly owned 76,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,816,035. This represents a 27.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total value of $4,839,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 219,181 shares in the company, valued at $14,141,558.12. This trade represents a 25.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE:FCX opened at $55.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $80.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50 day moving average of $61.39 and a 200 day moving average of $50.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $69.75.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. The business 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.87%.

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.