372,871 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Acquired by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc

Key Points

• AEGON Asset Management UK acquired a new position of 372,871 Freeport-McMoRan shares in the third quarter, worth approximately $26.1 million.
• Freeport-McMoRan beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.88 per share versus the $0.82 consensus, while revenue rose 8.2% year over year to $7.55 billion.
• Analysts give FCX a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $75.30; the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 372,871 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $26,101,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $4,181,268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300,416 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position 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 buying an additional 7,044,775 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,918,066 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $938,197,000 after buying an additional 1,810,698 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 11,819,898 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $743,353,000 after buying an additional 1,125,982 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter valued at about $739,890,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.56, for a total value of $6,284,800.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lydia H. Kennard sold 3,798 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 122,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,706,955.22. The trade was a 3.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 5.0%

FCX stock opened at $62.38 on Tuesday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $80.24. The firm has a market cap of $89.58 billion, a PE ratio of 26.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The natural resource company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.36 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 13.03% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.30.

About Freeport-McMoRan

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a mining company focused primarily on the exploration, development and production of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its products serve industries including construction, manufacturing, electronics and energy.

The company operates mines and related facilities in North America, South America and Indonesia. Its assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia and copper operations in the United States, Peru and Chile.

Freeport-McMoRan traces its roots to Freeport Sulphur Company, founded in 1912, and has since developed into a major international mining business.

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