Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Cuts Stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. cut its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 30.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,668 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 19,882 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $1,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FCX. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter valued at $3,388,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,219,298 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $4,692,191,000 after purchasing an additional 642,776 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 237.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,218,518 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $351,041,000 after purchasing an additional 6,486,011 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 18.5% in the first quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 39,571 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,498,000 after purchasing an additional 6,188 shares during the period. Finally, PGGM Investments boosted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 220.3% in the fourth quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 40,467 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 27,834 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of FCX stock traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $45.11. 19,619,671 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,503,689. 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 50-day simple moving average of $40.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $64.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.28, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.64.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target (up from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Scotiabank raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $48.00 in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $39.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $48.27.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.