Carrhae Capital LLP Reduces Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Carrhae Capital LLP cut its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 52.2% in Q3, selling 704,687 shares and retaining 644,376 shares worth about $25.27 million, equal to roughly 1.5% of the fund and its 16th-largest position.
• Freeport beat Q4 estimates with $0.47 EPS vs. $0.28 expected and revenue of $5.63 billion, and several analysts have raised price targets—Bank of America, JPMorgan, BMO, Scotiabank and HSBC among them—leaving an average MarketBeat target of $62.59 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Insiders have been net sellers, offloading 565,145 shares (~$35.8M) in the past three months, while institutional investors still own about 80.77% of the stock.

Carrhae Capital LLP decreased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 52.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 644,376 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 704,687 shares during the quarter. Freeport-McMoRan accounts for approximately 1.5% of Carrhae Capital LLP's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Carrhae Capital LLP's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $25,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 2,882 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted 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 worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $560,000. Boston Partners grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,542,388 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $240,230,000 after purchasing an additional 716,770 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 327,361 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $14,191,000 after buying an additional 45,861 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of FCX stock opened at $58.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $83.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.41. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $69.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $61.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.17.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.Freeport-McMoRan's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.59.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $1,868,202.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 76,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,816,035. This trade represents a 27.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total value of $682,330.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 40,773 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,529,149.19. This trade represents a 21.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 565,145 shares of company stock valued at $35,839,918. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.

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