Artemis Investment Management LLP Buys Shares of 896,038 Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new stake of 896,038 shares in Freeport‑McMoRan during Q4, valued at about $45.51 million and representing roughly 0.06% ownership.
• Freeport beat recent quarterly estimates with $0.57 EPS (vs. $0.47 expected) and $6.23 billion in revenue (vs. $5.73 billion), and analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $65.19 target.
• Insider selling has been notable: Chairman Richard Adkerson sold 152,960 shares and the CFO sold 48,500, with insiders offloading 565,145 shares (about $35.84 million) in the past three months.

Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 896,038 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $45,510,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP owned 0.06% of Freeport-McMoRan as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,431,326,000 after purchasing an additional 23,950,557 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 205.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,186,621 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $181,490,000 after buying an additional 2,813,845 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,018,624 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $282,991,000 after buying an additional 2,132,708 shares in the last quarter. Kirkoswald Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth about $82,754,200,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 87.6% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 4,115,008 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $152,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,921,792 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on FCX. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.19.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 2.0%

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $56.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $35.15 and a one year high of $70.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.32. The business's fifty day moving average is $62.16 and its 200 day moving average is $54.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.96%.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 152,960 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.65, for a total transaction of $9,888,864.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 3,356,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $216,975,679.35. This trade represents a 4.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,917,475.70. This represents a 37.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

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.

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