Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 24,578 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 19.0%, selling 24,578 shares during the quarter, leaving it with a total of 104,748 shares valued at approximately $3.97 million.
• Other institutional investors have increased their investments in Freeport-McMoRan, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, indicating a strong overall interest in the company.
• Freeport-McMoRan recently reported earnings that surpassed expectations, with $0.54 EPS on revenues of $7.58 billion, which was better than analyst estimates, contributing to a positive outlook for the company.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 19.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 104,748 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 24,578 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $3,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 62,015 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $2,348,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.1% in the first quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 25,980 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $984,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,102 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 12.5% in the first quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 2,550 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.8% in the first quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 10,421 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of FCX stock traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.90. 12,145,317 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,512,818. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $43.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.68. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $52.61. The company has a market cap of $64.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.45%.The company had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on FCX. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.00.

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.