Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Trims Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Chevy Chase Trust trimmed its stake in Freeport‑McMoRan by 3.3% in Q3, selling 24,773 shares and retaining 734,194 shares valued at about $28.8 million.
• Company insiders have been heavy sellers, offloading 565,145 shares worth roughly $35.8 million over the past three months, including recent sales by CAOs Stephen T. Higgins and Ellie L. Mikes.
• Analysts remain broadly favorable—several firms raised price targets and ratings (consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $62.59), and the company recently reported an EPS beat while paying a reduced quarterly dividend (annualized $0.30, ~0.5% yield).

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lessened its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 3.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 734,194 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 24,773 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned about 0.05% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $28,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,551,258 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $60,840,000 after purchasing an additional 115,285 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 278.4% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,157 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,810,000 after buying an additional 33,959 shares during the last quarter. Arrow Capital Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 88.5% during the second quarter. Arrow Capital Pty Ltd now owns 113,100 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $4,903,000 after buying an additional 53,100 shares during the period. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.7% during the third quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 383,488 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $15,213,000 after buying an additional 20,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Momentum Wealth Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the second quarter worth about $3,459,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $1,868,202.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,816,035. This represents a 27.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total transaction of $682,330.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 40,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,529,149.19. The trade was a 21.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock valued at $35,839,918. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on FCX shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Argus upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.59.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $57.89 on Tuesday. 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 firm's 50-day moving average is $61.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.08. The company has a market capitalization of $83.20 billion, a PE ratio of 38.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.41. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $69.75.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 19.87%.

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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