Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Grows Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Key Points

• Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 170.5% in Q1, owning 328,591 shares valued at $12.6 million.
• Other institutional investors have also boosted their holdings, with Wellington Management increasing theirs by 237.4%, amassing over 9.2 million shares worth $351 million.
• Freeport-McMoRan's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.54, exceeding expectations, alongside a declared quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share.

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 170.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 328,591 shares of the natural resource company's stock after purchasing an additional 207,129 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $12,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 6,486,011 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,885,531 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,214,203,000 after purchasing an additional 5,735,171 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,273,162 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $619,682,000 after purchasing an additional 4,488,210 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 13.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. increased its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,354.9% during the 1st quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 2,641,129 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $100,001,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459,598 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,934,286.66. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $39.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley downgraded 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 report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of FCX stock traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $42.90. 2,879,744 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,774,526. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.66 and a 12-month high of $52.61. The stock has a market cap of $61.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.46, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.64. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $42.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 7.37%. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.73%.

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.