Korea Investment CORP Has $51.32 Million Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 26.4% in Q3 to 1,308,409 shares worth about $51.32 million (roughly 0.09% of the company).
• Analysts are largely positive: the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target of $62.59, and several firms recently raised targets into the $68–$72 range.
• Mixed signals from operations and insiders — Freeport beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.47 vs. $0.28) but cut its dividend to $0.075 per quarter, while insiders sold about 603,140 shares (~$37.7M) over the past 90 days.

Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,308,409 shares of the natural resource company's stock after acquiring an additional 273,483 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.09% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $51,316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% during the third quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,551,258 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $60,840,000 after purchasing an additional 115,285 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 278.4% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,157 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,810,000 after buying an additional 33,959 shares during the period. Arrow Capital Pty Ltd lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 88.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arrow Capital Pty Ltd now owns 113,100 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $4,903,000 after buying an additional 53,100 shares in the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 383,488 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $15,213,000 after buying an additional 20,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Momentum Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,459,000. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on FCX. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Freedom Capital raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.59.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 5.4%

NYSE FCX opened at $59.29 on Monday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $69.75. The stock has a market cap of $85.21 billion, a PE ratio of 39.27, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.19. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The firm had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is currently 19.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total transaction of $4,839,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 219,181 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,141,558.12. This trade represents a 25.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Maree E. Robertson sold 48,500 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.55, for a total transaction of $2,985,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 79,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,917,475.70. This trade represents a 37.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 603,140 shares of company stock valued at $37,660,139 in the last ninety days. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.

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