Strong Tower Advisory Services Purchases 93,268 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 85.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 202,663 shares of the natural resource company's stock after acquiring an additional 93,268 shares during the period. Freeport-McMoRan accounts for about 1.8% of Strong Tower Advisory Services' investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Strong Tower Advisory Services' holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $7,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 109,931.8% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 24,207 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $916,000 after purchasing an additional 24,185 shares during the period. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 30.5% during the first quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,170 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 4,950 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% during the first quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,598,393 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $60,515,000 after acquiring an additional 49,430 shares during the period. Woodstock Corp increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 19.6% during the first quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 12,204 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Iowa State Bank increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 28.4% during the first quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 62,206 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,355,000 after acquiring an additional 13,759 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 3.8%

NYSE:FCX traded up $1.57 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $42.43. 9,198,679 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,393,939. The company's 50 day moving average is $36.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.39. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $52.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $60.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 7.50% and a net margin of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCX has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Dbs Bank upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given 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 $47.82.

Insider Activity

In other 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 now owns 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,934,286.66. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.