Czech National Bank Buys 13,862 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Czech National Bank raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 378,519 shares of the natural resource company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,862 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $19,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% during the 3rd 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. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 248,031 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.80, for a total value of $15,576,346.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 3,509,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,372,673.20. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total value of $2,985,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,917,475.70. The trade was a 37.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on FCX. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. HSBC raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Freeport-McMoRan from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $53.50 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.59.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE:FCX opened at $55.91 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.57. The stock has a market cap of $80.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 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. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $69.75.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) last announced 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 net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The company had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan’s dividend payout ratio is 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.