Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) CAO Sells $1,364,019.77 in Stock

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) CAO Stephen Higgins sold 28,423 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.99, for a total transaction of $1,364,019.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 105,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,053,059.06. This trade represents a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of FCX opened at $47.41 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $68.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.49. The business’s fifty day moving average is $41.92 and its 200 day moving average is $42.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $49.12.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.74 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 7.97%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 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, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 15th. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.50 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Johnson Rice reduced their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $48.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $48.30.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 14.4% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 26,167 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after acquiring an additional 3,302 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $1,883,000. Strategic Advocates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 18,184 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 4.8% in the third quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 52,211 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,048,000 after buying an additional 2,405 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth about $652,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.