Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Purchased by Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 1,368.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,447 shares of the natural resource company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,940 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $44.80. The company had a trading volume of 13,552,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,838,264. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $64.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.02, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.64. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $52.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $41.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.75.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.03% and a net margin of 7.11%. The business had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.79%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $343,531.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on FCX. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 target price on Freeport-McMoRan and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Hsbc Global Res raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Canada upgraded Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.71.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.