Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Sold by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC cut its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 89.6% in Q4, selling 69,719 shares and leaving 8,081 shares valued at about $410,000.
• Insiders have been net sellers, disposing of 565,145 shares (~$35.84 million) over the past 90 days, including EVP Douglas Currault II (75,000 shares) and CAO Ellie L. Mikes (11,000 shares).
• Freeport posted an earnings and revenue beat for the quarter (EPS $0.57 vs $0.47; revenue $6.23B vs $5.73B), carries a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a $65.19 target, and trades around $56.64 with a 0.5% dividend yield.

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lessened its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 89.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,081 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 69,719 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. YANKCOM Partnership lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 83.3% in the 4th quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 869 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $66.00 price target (down from $70.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 24th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $68.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.19.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:FCX opened at $56.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.32. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.15 and a 1-year high of $70.96. The company's fifty day moving average is $62.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.39.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.73 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The firm's revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total value of $4,839,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 219,181 shares in the company, valued at $14,141,558.12. This represents a 25.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total transaction of $682,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 40,773 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,529,149.19. This represents a 21.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company 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.

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