Morse Asset Management Inc Has $1.15 Million Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Morse Asset Management Inc lessened its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 59.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 24,416 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 36,500 shares during the quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,698,442 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $5,675,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210,833 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,896,288 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,427,583,000 after buying an additional 13,143,562 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 1,030,451 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 36,882,874 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,734,234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,392,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 7.9% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 1,551,828 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $49.50 to $62.00 in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.03, for a total value of $4,162,400.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,430,735.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Richard C. Adkerson sold 54,771 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.78, for a total transaction of $2,781,271.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,652,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $185,472,832.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.03, for a total value of $4,162,400.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 104,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,430,735.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 445,667 shares of company stock worth $22,755,070 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX traded up $0.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $45.00. 10,390,517 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,741,873. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.83 and a 12-month high of $55.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $49.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $64.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.92.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.83% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.