Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Purchased by Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 71.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,947,227 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 1,230,520 shares during the period. Freeport-McMoRan makes up approximately 1.3% of Perpetual Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Perpetual Ltd owned approximately 0.21% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $111,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 48,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on FCX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 target price (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 7.0%

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $44.51 on Friday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $52.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.17. The company has a market capitalization of $63.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.64.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.03% and a net margin of 7.11%. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 24.79%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.