Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Sold by Boston Partners

Key Points

• Boston Partners has reduced its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 2.9%, holding 4,825,618 shares valued at $182.65 million.
• Freeport-McMoRan recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.54 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.45, and had revenue of $7.58 billion, a 14.5% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.4%, and a payout ratio of 22.73%.

Boston Partners decreased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,825,618 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 146,134 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned approximately 0.34% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $182,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stratos Investment Management LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 238.5% during the first quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 64,519 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,443,000 after acquiring an additional 45,458 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 18.5% in the first quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 39,571 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,498,000 after purchasing an additional 6,188 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.2% in the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 421,469 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $15,957,000 after purchasing an additional 8,989 shares during the last quarter. Financial Sense Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 527.9% in the first quarter. Financial Sense Advisors Inc. now owns 76,127 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $2,882,000 after purchasing an additional 64,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Hoagland & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 27.6% in the first quarter. Anderson Hoagland & Co. now owns 109,565 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $4,148,000 after purchasing an additional 23,695 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 48,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of FCX traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.29. 8,883,387 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,283,754. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $52.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $60.72 billion, a PE ratio of 32.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.01 and a 200 day moving average of $39.24.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The firm had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

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.