Ninety One SA PTY Ltd Invests $277,000 in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,430 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $343,531.68. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FCX. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

FCX stock traded down $0.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.37. 17,116,883 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,781,509. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $52.61. The stock has a market cap of $66.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.32, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.64. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $41.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.32.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.79%.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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.