Nikulski Financial Inc. Acquires 30,586 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Nikulski Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 375.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,741 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,586 shares during the quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth $208,000. Shrier Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,420,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 7,973 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 544 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 11,584 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 2,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 125,383 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $6,368,000 after buying an additional 34,004 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX stock opened at $58.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.23 and a 200 day moving average of $50.88. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $69.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.97, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s payout ratio is currently 19.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 248,031 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.80, for a total transaction of $15,576,346.80. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 3,509,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $220,372,673.20. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total value of $682,330.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 40,773 shares in the company, valued at $2,529,149.19. This trade represents a 21.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock valued at $35,839,918 over the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. HSBC boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 price target on Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Freedom Capital raised Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.40.

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.