22,805 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Bought by IPG Investment Advisors LLC

Key Points

• IPG Investment Advisors opened a position in Freeport-McMoRan, buying 22,805 shares worth approximately $1.6 million in the third quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 80.77% of the company’s shares.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: MarketBeat reports a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with 21 analysts rating FCX Buy or Strong Buy and an average price target of $75.30.
• Freeport-McMoRan beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $0.88 versus a $0.82 consensus and revenue of $7.55 billion, up 8.2% year over year. Shares opened at $61.77 in the latest session cited and were down 1.9%.

IPG Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 22,805 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $1,596,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $739,890,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 42,345,502 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,489,069,000 after purchasing an additional 7,044,775 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 101.2% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,498,267 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $675,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,784,156 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 84.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,448,772 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $381,414,000 after purchasing an additional 2,501,881 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,485,424 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $4,181,268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300,416 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.56, for a total transaction of $6,284,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 211,016 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,577,416.96. This trade represents a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lydia H. Kennard sold 3,798 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.11, for a total value of $300,459.78. Following the sale, the director directly owned 122,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,706,955.22. This represents a 3.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on FCX. Citigroup upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Bank of America increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank started coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, August 27th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $75.30.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $61.77 on Wednesday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.54 and a 12-month high of $80.24. The stock has a market cap of $88.70 billion, a PE ratio of 25.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $71.00 and a 200-day moving average of $65.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The natural resource company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.36 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 13.03%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th were paid a $0.0750 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 12.61%.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc NYSE: FCX is a global mining company primarily engaged in the exploration, development, and production of copper. Copper is used extensively in electrical wiring, construction, transportation, renewable energy systems, and other industrial applications. The company also produces gold and molybdenum, a metal used in steelmaking and other industrial processes, as well as certain other byproducts.

Freeport-McMoRan operates a portfolio of mining and processing assets in North America, South America, and Indonesia.

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