California Public Employees Retirement System Purchases 98,841 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,432,051 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,841 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.17% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $95,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FCX. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 977 shares of the natural resource company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $1,868,202.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,816,035. This trade represents a 27.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was 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 owned 79,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,917,475.70. This trade represents a 37.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 565,145 shares of company stock valued at $35,839,918 in the last 90 days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on FCX shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. CICC Research lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $50.40 to $64.40 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $53.50 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.59.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $57.89 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $83.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s 50 day moving average is $61.73 and its 200-day moving average is $50.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $69.75.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

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

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.