Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Buys Shares of 35,070 Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 35,070 shares of the natural resource company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,576,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 59.6% during the 2nd quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 876 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 74.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 1,002 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of FCX opened at $47.41 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $68.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.49. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $49.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.92 and a 200-day moving average of $42.48.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 7.97%.The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is presently 21.13%.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 28,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total transaction of $1,364,019.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 105,294 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,059.06. The trade was a 21.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 9,572 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.66, for a total value of $456,201.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 38,761 shares in the company, valued at $1,847,349.26. This represents a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FCX. Citigroup upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Johnson Rice reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Dbs Bank cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $51.00 to $48.00 in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.30.

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.