MBB Public Markets I LLC Cuts Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• MBB Public Markets I LLC reduced its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 46.6% in the first quarter, holding 561,450 shares valued at $21.26 million by quarter's end.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported a 14.5% increase in revenue year-over-year for the quarter, totaling $7.58 billion, and earnings per share (EPS) of $0.54, surpassing analyst expectations.
• Institutional investors own 80.77% of Freeport-McMoRan's stock, highlighting significant interest from major financial players in the natural resource sector.

MBB Public Markets I LLC cut its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 46.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 561,450 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 490,421 shares during the period. Freeport-McMoRan makes up 2.3% of MBB Public Markets I LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. MBB Public Markets I LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $21,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FCX. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter valued at about $366,959,000. Amundi lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 28.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 27,635,497 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,046,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,054,537 shares during the period. Crake Asset Management LLP boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 2,140.8% in the first quarter. Crake Asset Management LLP now owns 5,929,623 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $224,496,000 after purchasing an additional 5,665,000 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 17.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 37,547,489 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,421,549,000 after purchasing an additional 5,661,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,942,063 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $830,726,000 after purchasing an additional 2,642,810 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX stock traded up $0.98 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $45.86. 14,918,063 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,230,322. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.06. The company has a market cap of $65.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.21. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The company had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.73%.

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.