Dupont Capital Management Corp Has $7.54 Million Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Dupont Capital cut its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 35.5% in Q4, selling 81,539 shares and retaining 148,354 shares valued at about $7.54 million per its SEC filing.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive: several firms raised price targets (BMO to $68, Goldman initiating at $70, JPMorgan to $76) and the consensus rating is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $66.26.
• Freeport beat quarterly estimates (EPS $0.47 vs. $0.28; revenue $5.63B), announced a $0.075 quarterly dividend (0.4% yield), but insiders sold heavily—565,145 shares worth about $35.8 million last quarter.

Dupont Capital Management Corp reduced its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 35.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 148,354 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 81,539 shares during the period. Dupont Capital Management Corp's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $7,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FCX. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 39.8% in the third quarter. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. now owns 977 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.26.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of FCX stock opened at $68.30 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.12 and a 52-week high of $69.75. The stock has a market cap of $98.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $62.01 and a 200-day moving average of $52.63.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total value of $2,985,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 79,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,917,475.70. This represents a 37.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 40,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,529,149.19. The trade was a 21.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918 in the last quarter. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.