Artemis Investment Management LLP Sells 948,458 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Artemis Investment Management cut its Freeport-McMoRan stake by 45.1%, selling 948,458 shares in the third quarter while retaining 1.16 million shares valued at approximately $81 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $76.22 price target, with several firms recently raising their targets. A favorable long-term copper outlook, driven by AI infrastructure and electric vehicles, could support the company.
• FCX shares recently traded at $70.69 after posting quarterly EPS of $0.74, above the $0.62 consensus estimate; however, analysts have reduced several future earnings forecasts, signaling some caution about profitability.

Artemis Investment Management LLP reduced its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 45.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,156,662 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 948,458 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP owned 0.08% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $80,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Apella Capital LLC acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth about $376,000. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.9% during the third quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,479 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 165.1% during the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 33,398 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,338,000 after buying an additional 20,801 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,950 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,327,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Veracity Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 14,074 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Freeport-McMoRan this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Higher analyst price targets: JPMorgan raised its FCX target to $92 from $77 and retained an “overweight” rating. Morgan Stanley also increased its target to $75 from $70, although it maintained an “equal weight” rating. Wells Fargo separately lifted its target to $87 from $70 while maintaining an “overweight” view. Wells Fargo Adjusts Price Target on Freeport-McMoRan
• Positive Sentiment: Copper outlook remains favorable: Deutsche Bank said copper prices could eventually reach $10 per pound, supported by demand from artificial intelligence infrastructure and electric vehicles. Higher copper prices would generally benefit Freeport-McMoRan’s revenue and cash flow. Three stocks to buy as Deutsche Bank says copper could hit $10 a pound
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong investor attention and earnings track record: FCX has been among the most-watched stocks on Zacks, and recent coverage highlighted the company’s history of exceeding earnings estimates. However, these reports did not introduce a new fundamental development.
• Negative Sentiment: Broad earnings-estimate reductions: Zacks lowered its Q3 2026 EPS forecast to $0.61 from $0.63 and reduced several later-quarter estimates. FY2027 EPS was cut to $3.47 from $3.54, while FY2028 EPS fell to $3.41 from $3.52. The revisions suggest analysts see somewhat weaker future profitability than previously expected and likely explain near-term pressure on the stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FCX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $73.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $76.22.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Stephen Higgins sold 14,277 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $992,251.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 54,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,795,951. The trade was a 20.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lydia Kennard sold 3,798 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.11, for a total transaction of $300,459.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 122,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,706,955.22. This trade represents a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 110,398 shares of company stock worth $8,387,271 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX traded down $1.17 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $70.69. The stock had a trading volume of 3,513,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,267,260. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $71.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.82, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 2.07. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.54 and a 1-year high of $80.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.62 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%.The firm's revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a $0.0750 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.78%.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc NYSE: FCX is a leading international mining company focused primarily on the exploration, development and production of copper, gold and molybdenum. Copper is its principal product and is used in electrical systems, construction, transportation, renewable energy infrastructure and other industrial applications. The company also produces copper cathodes and concentrates, gold, molybdenum products and certain quantities of silver and other byproducts.

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

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FCX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.