CI Investments Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

CI Investments Inc. cut its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 98.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 32,600 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after selling 1,603,730 shares during the quarter. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 79.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,968 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 3,983 shares during the period. 111 Capital bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $1,308,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 63,258,414 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $2,480,995,000 after purchasing an additional 899,699 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 12.5% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 90,000 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,530,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, River Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.9% in the third quarter. River Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 84,118 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $3,299,000 after acquiring an additional 4,698 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total transaction of $2,985,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 79,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,917,475.70. This trade represents a 37.77% 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, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total transaction of $4,839,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 219,181 shares in the company, valued at $14,141,558.12. This represents a 25.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 603,140 shares of company stock worth $37,660,139. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FCX. Argus upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. HSBC upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.59.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $62.77 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $69.75. The stock has a market cap of $90.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.16.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.87%.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.