Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Boosts Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 1,674.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 250,752 shares of the natural resource company's stock after acquiring an additional 236,622 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $9,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,219,298 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $4,692,191,000 after purchasing an additional 642,776 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,885,531 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,214,203,000 after buying an additional 5,735,171 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,579,298 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,122,922,000 after buying an additional 688,240 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,502,220 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,123,445,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,055,524 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $916,037,000 after acquiring an additional 750,500 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $343,531.68. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 48,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on FCX. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note 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 raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.82.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock traded down $1.21 on Wednesday, hitting $40.98. The stock had a trading volume of 9,651,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,385,271. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $27.66 and a one year high of $52.61. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $36.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.30. The stock has a market cap of $58.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.64.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.42% and a return on equity of 7.50%. The business had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The company's revenue was down 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.