HighTower Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 36.0%, owning approximately 1 million shares after selling over 563,000 shares in the first quarter.
• A variety of hedge funds have adjusted their positions in Freeport-McMoRan, with notable increases in holdings from Stratos Investment Management (up 238.5%) and Financial Sense Advisors (up 527.9%).
• Freeport-McMoRan recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, resulting in a current annualized dividend yield of 1.4%.

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 36.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,000,820 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 563,184 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $37,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% in 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 during the period. City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 38.2% in the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:FCX traded down $0.5350 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $41.2150. 1,859,948 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,810,211. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.63. The business's fifty day moving average price is $43.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.47. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $52.61.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 22.73%.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on FCX shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. UBS Group lowered Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.