Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Acquired by NorthRock Partners LLC

NorthRock Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 92.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,115 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,813 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 59,752,726 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,543,676,000 after buying an additional 419,603 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 55,710,695 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $2,371,604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030,451 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 7.9% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,157,118 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $994,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551,828 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 16,647,339 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $708,677,000 after purchasing an additional 595,395 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,758,947 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $458,008,000 after purchasing an additional 592,151 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total value of $2,153,318.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,255,381.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 42,767 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.35, for a total transaction of $2,153,318.45. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,255,381.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 43,900 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.08, for a total transaction of $2,242,412.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,331,577.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 445,667 shares of company stock worth $22,755,070 in the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on FCX. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. BNP Paribas upgraded Freeport-McMoRan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $49.50 to $62.00 in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.93.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

NYSE FCX traded down $1.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $49.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,627,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,601,193. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.82. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $55.24. The stock has a market cap of $70.52 billion, a PE ratio of 44.62, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.92.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The business had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

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.