Machina Capital S.A.S. Purchases 7,237 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Machina Capital S.A.S. grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 23.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,174 shares of the natural resource company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,237 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 237.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,218,518 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $351,041,000 after purchasing an additional 6,486,011 shares during the period. Stratos Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 238.5% during the 1st quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 64,519 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $2,443,000 after buying an additional 45,458 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. grew its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 39,571 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,498,000 after buying an additional 6,188 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at $2,768,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 421,469 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $15,957,000 after acquiring an additional 8,989 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $343,531.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,934,286.66. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:FCX traded up $0.29 on Friday, hitting $44.87. The stock had a trading volume of 16,007,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,985,843. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $52.61. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $42.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.99. The stock has a market cap of $64.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.47.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $56.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

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.