M&T Bank Corp Buys 21,171 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 28% in Q4, buying 21,171 shares to own 96,732 shares valued at about $4.91 million.
• Insider selling has been significant recently: EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares and Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 248,031 shares, with insiders offloading 565,145 shares (~$35.84M) in the last 90 days (corporate insiders own 0.75%).
• Freeport beat the quarter with EPS of $0.57 vs $0.47 consensus and revenue of $6.23B vs $5.73B, pays a $0.075 quarterly dividend (0.5% yield), and holds an average analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $65.14 average price target while trading near $60.93.

M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 28.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,732 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 21,171 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $4,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FCX. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,431,326,000 after buying an additional 23,950,557 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 205.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,186,621 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $181,490,000 after buying an additional 2,813,845 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 43.7% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 7,018,624 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $282,991,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132,708 shares during the period. Kirkoswald Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan in the third quarter worth about $82,754,200,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 87.6% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 4,115,008 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $152,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,921,792 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total transaction of $4,839,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 219,181 shares in the company, valued at $14,141,558.12. The trade was a 25.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Richard C. Adkerson sold 248,031 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.80, for a total value of $15,576,346.80. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 3,509,119 shares in the company, valued at $220,372,673.20. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 565,145 shares of company stock valued at $35,839,918. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 5.6%

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $60.93 on Thursday. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.15 and a 52 week high of $70.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.57 billion, a PE ratio of 32.41, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.32. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $61.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.39.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The firm had revenue of $6.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is currently 15.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Argus upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $66.00 price objective (down from $70.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.14.

Freeport-McMoRan Company Profile

Freeport-McMoRan Inc is a U.S.-based natural resources company primarily engaged in the exploration, mining and processing of copper, gold and molybdenum. Its operations encompass large-scale open-pit and underground mining as well as associated concentrator and milling facilities. The company produces copper in the form of concentrates and cathodes, and also recovers gold and molybdenum as co-products; its business model includes exploration, development, mining, beneficiation and the sale of bulk commodities to smelters and industrial customers.

Freeport-McMoRan conducts operations and development activities across multiple geographies, with substantial assets in the Americas and Indonesia.

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