QRG Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 9.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 204,931 shares of the natural resource company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,310 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $7,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 18.3% during the first quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. now owns 138,185 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $5,232,000 after acquiring an additional 21,365 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.5% during the first quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 22,121 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $838,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 13.3% during the first quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC now owns 13,675 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 27.0% during the first quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 378,014 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $14,312,000 after acquiring an additional 80,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 5.8% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 18,995 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FCX. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.27.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE FCX opened at $41.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.21, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.64. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $37.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $52.61.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.79%.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction dated 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 now owns 48,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

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.

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