Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 1,322,681 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 38.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,082,404 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 1,322,681 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned about 0.14% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $78,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 2,882 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 540,046 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $20,565,000 after purchasing an additional 115,552 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 36,405 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,386,000 after purchasing an additional 3,333 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $943,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 594,839 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $22,651,000 after purchasing an additional 10,588 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $44.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.02, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.64. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.36 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.03% and a net margin of 7.11%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 price target on Freeport-McMoRan and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy 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 $50.71.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.