Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Sells 6,202 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC reduced its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 7.4%, owning 77,468 shares after selling 6,202 shares during the first quarter.
• The company reported strong quarterly earnings with $0.54 earnings per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.45, and posted a revenue of $7.58 billion.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $51.00 for Freeport-McMoRan, with several ratings updated following recent performance, including an upgrade from Scotiabank to $52.00.

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC reduced its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 77,468 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 6,202 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 62,015 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $2,348,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Princeton Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.1% during the first quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 25,980 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $984,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,102 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 12.5% in the first quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 2,550 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 10,421 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Stifel Canada raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock traded up $0.98 on Thursday, reaching $45.86. The stock had a trading volume of 14,918,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,230,322. The business's 50 day moving average is $43.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.06. The company has a market cap of $65.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $52.61.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The business's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.73%.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.