KBC Group NV Sells 21,704 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

KBC Group NV cut its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 15.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 116,748 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 21,704 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $4,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,388,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,219,298 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $4,692,191,000 after buying an additional 642,776 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 237.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,218,518 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $351,041,000 after acquiring an additional 6,486,011 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in 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. Finally, PGGM Investments lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 220.3% in the fourth quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 40,467 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 27,834 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE FCX traded up $0.09 during trading on Thursday, hitting $45.86. The stock had a trading volume of 7,607,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,440,278. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.22. The company has a market capitalization of $65.90 billion, a PE ratio of 37.90, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.66 and a 12 month high of $52.61.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 7.11% and a return on equity of 7.03%. The business had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 24.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FCX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Scotiabank raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.27.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

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

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.