Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Grows Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management boosted its Freeport-McMoRan stake by 205.4% in the fourth quarter, ending with 317,429 shares valued at about $16.1 million.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.57 and revenue of $6.23 billion, both above analyst expectations and up from a year earlier.
• Analysts remain generally positive on FCX: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, though some price targets were trimmed while others were raised.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 205.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 317,429 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 213,477 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $16,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 221,838 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $11,267,000 after acquiring an additional 73,002 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,551,258 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $60,840,000 after acquiring an additional 115,285 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 278.4% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 46,157 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,810,000 after acquiring an additional 33,959 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,494,793 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $1,431,326,000 after acquiring an additional 23,950,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 426.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 81,892 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $3,212,000 after acquiring an additional 66,331 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 29,654 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $1,868,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 76,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,816,035. The trade was a 27.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $60.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $87.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.17. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a one year low of $35.15 and a one year high of $70.96.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.10. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 10.34%.The company had revenue of $6.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $72.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 target price on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Freeport-McMoRan has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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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