Arizona State Retirement System Raises Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 421,469 shares of the natural resource company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,989 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $15,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX traded down $0.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,116,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,804,602. The company has a market cap of $66.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.64. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $52.61. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $41.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.32.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.03% and a net margin of 7.11%. The business had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.79%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $343,531.68. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FCX shares. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $39.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.