Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Purchases Shares of 500,000 Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• The Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec has acquired 500,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc., with a total value of approximately $18.93 million.
• Analysts have varying opinions on the stock, with two rating it as Strong Buy and the consensus rating being a "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $51.00.
• Freeport-McMoRan announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, resulting in a dividend yield of 1.4%, and a payout ratio of 22.73%.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 500,000 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $18,930,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 2,882 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 540,046 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $20,565,000 after purchasing an additional 115,552 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 127.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 792,901 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $30,194,000 after purchasing an additional 444,763 shares during the period. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,760,000. Finally, Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 9,616 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on FCX. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Stifel Canada raised Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the business'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 transaction of $343,531.68. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,333 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $43.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.25, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.55. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $52.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.45%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

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

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.

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