Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) Shares Down 2.5% – Time to Sell?

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s share price traded down 2.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $67.01 and last traded at $69.3190. Approximately 10,835,874 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 16,857,678 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.75.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $67.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.07. The company has a market cap of $99.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.41.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Douglas Currault, II sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.56, for a total value of $6,284,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 211,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,577,416.96. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ellie Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $334,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 36,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,520,000. The trade was a 11.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 110,398 shares of company stock worth $8,387,271. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 34.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,062,916 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $62,478,000 after purchasing an additional 272,726 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at $8,857,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 37,353,852 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $1,897,202,000 after buying an additional 8,891,743 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 205.4% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 317,429 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $16,122,000 after buying an additional 213,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,970,872 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $627,068,000 after buying an additional 141,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a global mining company focused primarily on the exploration, development and production of copper, gold and molybdenum. Copper is its principal product and is used in electrical wiring, construction, transportation, industrial equipment and renewable-energy technologies. The company also produces gold as a byproduct of its copper operations and molybdenum, an alloying metal used in steelmaking and other industrial applications.

Freeport-McMoRan operates major mining and processing assets in North America, South America and Indonesia.