Ninety One North America Inc. Invests $3.29 Million in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Ninety One North America opened a new Q4 position in Freeport-McMoRan of 64,777 shares, valued at about $3.29 million, and institutional investors now own roughly 80.77% of FCX.
• Freeport-McMoRan beat estimates with Q4 EPS $0.47 vs. $0.28 and revenue of $5.63B vs. $5.42B, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share (annualized $0.30, ~0.4% yield).
• Insiders have been net sellers recently — 565,145 shares sold worth about $35.84 million in the last three months (including EVP and CAO sales); insiders now own ~0.75% of the company.

Ninety One North America Inc. bought a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 64,777 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $3,290,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FCX. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth $25,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 1,962.9% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 722 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth $33,000. YANKCOM Partnership grew its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 83.3% during the fourth quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 869 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan during the third quarter worth $36,000. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Freeport-McMoRan News

Here are the key news stories impacting Freeport-McMoRan this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Earnings outlook: Analysts and research notes see the company positioned to deliver an earnings beat in the upcoming report, citing the right combination of revenue and cost factors that support higher guidance and potential upside to consensus estimates. This improves near-term fundamentals sentiment for FCX. Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Earnings Expected to Grow: Should You Buy?
• Positive Sentiment: Market action: The stock moved higher in the latest session versus the broader market, reflecting investor buying interest alongside elevated volume — a near-term technical tailwind that reinforces momentum-driven inflows. Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Rises Higher Than Market: Key Facts
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider selling noted: Reports show executives sold shares while the stock rallied past the $69 level. Insider sales can be interpreted many ways (portfolio diversification, taxes, or signaling), so investors should monitor the size, timing and reason disclosures before changing positions. Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Stock Soars Past $69 While Executives Unload Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target cut: Scotiabank trimmed its price target to $71, which is mildly negative because it reduces some analyst-driven upside and could cap momentum if other firms follow. This raises some valuation risk even as fundamentals look supportive. Scotiabank Lowers Freeport-McMoRan NYSE: FCX Price Target to $71.00

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $70.00 price objective on Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.26.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 2.7%

FCX stock opened at $70.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.29. The company has a market capitalization of $100.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.43, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.48. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.12 and a fifty-two week high of $70.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $62.20 and a 200-day moving average of $52.86.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 8.50%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.87%.

Insider Activity at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 219,181 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,141,558.12. This represents a 25.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total value of $682,330.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 40,773 shares in the company, valued at $2,529,149.19. This trade represents a 21.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 565,145 shares of company stock worth $35,839,918 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan 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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