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

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 68.6% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 37,853 shares, bringing its total to 93,012 shares worth approximately $3.52 million.
• Freeport-McMoRan's earnings report exceeded expectations, with $0.54 EPS against a consensus estimate of $0.45, and revenue of $7.58 billion, up 14.5% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 1.4%, with a dividend payout ratio of 22.73%.

AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 68.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,012 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 37,853 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FCX. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on FCX. UBS Group lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Stifel Canada upgraded Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eight investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.00.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $343,531.68. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 48,333 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.72. 13,118,636 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,151,302. The business's 50-day moving average price is $42.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $52.61. The company has a market capitalization of $61.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.63.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.73%.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

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.