Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Stock: Perpetual Ltd Decreases Position

Key Points

• Perpetual Ltd reduced its Freeport-McMoRan stake by 4.5% in the third quarter, selling 100,159 shares and retaining 2.13 million shares valued at approximately $148.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 80.77% of FCX.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported quarterly earnings of $0.74 per share, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.62, while revenue reached $7.03 billion. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $76.22.
• FCX declared a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share, equivalent to an annualized dividend of $0.30 and a 0.4% yield. Company insiders have sold 110,398 shares worth about $8.4 million over the past three months.

Perpetual Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,125,784 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 100,159 shares during the period. Freeport-McMoRan makes up 2.3% of Perpetual Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Perpetual Ltd owned 0.15% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $148,805,000 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. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 34.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,062,916 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $62,478,000 after purchasing an additional 272,726 shares during the last quarter. Iowa State Bank raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 50.7% in the 3rd quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 50,144 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $3,510,000 after purchasing an additional 16,868 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 9,970,872 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $627,068,000 after purchasing an additional 141,738 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,249,858 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $78,604,000 after purchasing an additional 182,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robinhood Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $16,746,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $73.37 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $71.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.30. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.54 and a 52-week high of $80.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.14, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.39.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.12. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $7.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. The business's revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.0750 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 4,773 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $334,110.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 36,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,520,000. This represents a 11.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lydia H. Kennard sold 3,798 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.11, for a total transaction of $300,459.78. Following the sale, the director directly owned 122,702 shares in the company, valued at $9,706,955.22. This trade represents a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 110,398 shares of company stock worth $8,387,271. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, August 27th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Freedom Broker downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.22.

Freeport-McMoRan Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc NYSE: FCX is a leading international mining company focused primarily on the exploration, development and production of copper, gold and molybdenum. Copper is its principal product and is used in electrical systems, construction, transportation, renewable energy infrastructure and other industrial applications. The company also produces copper cathodes and concentrates, gold, molybdenum products and certain quantities of silver and other byproducts.

Freeport-McMoRan operates a portfolio of mining and processing assets in North America, South America and Indonesia.

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