Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,832,109 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 1,264,795 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $429,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,011 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Steph & Co. raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 493 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 11.6% in the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,539 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Essex Bank boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% during the first quarter. Essex Bank now owns 14,104 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $829,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.6% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 6,788 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $334,110.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 36,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,520,000. The trade was a 11.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $992,251.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 54,618 shares in the company, valued at $3,795,951. This represents a 20.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,600 shares of company stock worth $1,802,012. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX stock opened at $79.91 on Wednesday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $35.15 and a one year high of $79.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $64.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.75 billion, a PE ratio of 39.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The business had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.27.

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.