Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Bought by BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.

Key Points

• BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. increased its Freeport-McMoRan stake by 72.4% in the fourth quarter, ending with 206,938 shares valued at about $10.5 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with several major investors also adding to their positions; overall, 80.77% of FCX shares are held by institutions.
• Analysts remain constructive on the stock despite some target cuts, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $65.72.

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 72.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 206,938 shares of the natural resource company's stock after acquiring an additional 86,938 shares during the period. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $10,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,332,957 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $6,619,611,000 after buying an additional 1,572,769 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 63,880,757 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $3,244,504,000 after buying an additional 622,343 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,477,910 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $2,450,384,000 after buying an additional 690,736 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,431,326,000 after buying an additional 23,950,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,669,550 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,601,087,000 after buying an additional 238,997 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $66.00 price objective (down from $70.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, CICC Research decreased their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $64.40 to $63.40 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.72.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 2.0%

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $67.04 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.35. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $62.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.15 and a 1-year high of $70.96.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.73 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.96%.

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.

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