Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Purchased by Candriam S.C.A.

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. has increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 11.2%, owning 240,397 shares worth approximately $9.1 million as of the end of Q1.
• Several institutional investors are also boosting their positions in Freeport-McMoRan, with hedge funds holding 80.77% of the company's stock.
• Freeport-McMoRan's recent quarterly earnings surpassed analysts' expectations, with an EPS of $0.54 and revenue of $7.58 billion.

Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 11.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 240,397 shares of the natural resource company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,273 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $9,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FCX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 125,042,285 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $4,734,101,000 after buying an additional 1,822,987 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,885,531 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,214,203,000 after buying an additional 5,735,171 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 13.7% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,942,063 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $830,726,000 after buying an additional 2,642,810 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,441,112 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $626,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,162,058 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $498,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815,285 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock traded down $0.56 on Wednesday, hitting $43.80. The company had a trading volume of 4,162,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,577,428. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.14 and a 200-day moving average of $39.52. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 7.37%. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FCX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.