MetLife Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC has reduced its stock holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9%, bringing its total number of shares to 373,149, valued at approximately $14.1 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC and Princeton Capital Management LLC, have increased their positions in Freeport-McMoRan, reflecting overall strong institutional interest with 80.77% of the stock owned by such investors.
• Freeport-McMoRan recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.4%, with a payout ratio of 22.73%.

MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 373,149 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 7,079 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $14,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FCX. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 62,015 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,348,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 25,980 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $984,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,102 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 2,550 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 10,421 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on FCX shares. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $56.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $45.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Stifel Canada raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.00.

Insider Activity

In other Freeport-McMoRan 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 value 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 approximately $1,934,286.66. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE:FCX opened at $43.68 on Tuesday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $52.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $43.08 and a 200 day moving average of $39.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.09, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.63.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.58 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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