Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,748 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,219,298 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $4,692,191,000 after acquiring an additional 642,776 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,214,203,000 after acquiring an additional 5,735,171 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,579,298 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,122,922,000 after acquiring an additional 688,240 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,502,220 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,123,445,000 after buying an additional 2,191,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,055,524 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $916,037,000 after buying an additional 750,500 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 2.8%

FCX traded down $1.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $44.23. 20,294,163 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,873,217. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $52.61. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $41.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.54. 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 company has a market cap of $63.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.64.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.36 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.11% and a return on equity of 7.03%. Freeport-McMoRan's quarterly revenue was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on FCX shares. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $39.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $56.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.