Benjamin Edwards Inc. Lowers Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. reduced its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 21.4% during the 1st quarter, owning 41,998 shares valued at $1.59 million after selling 11,424 shares.
• A recent earnings report revealed that Freeport-McMoRan topped analysts' expectations with $0.54 earnings per share and a revenue of $7.58 billion, leading to an annual revenue increase of 14.5%.
• Freeport-McMoRan's stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $51.00 from analysts.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. reduced its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 21.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,998 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 11,424 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. City Holding Co. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 38.2% in the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Hsbc Global Res cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Canada raised Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 1.5%

FCX stock opened at $42.10 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $52.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.50 billion, a PE ratio of 31.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.94 and a 200 day moving average of $39.11.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.45%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 22.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $343,531.68. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 48,333 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.

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