Swedbank AB Sells 730,599 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its Freeport-McMoRan stake by 42.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 730,599 shares and ending with 977,337 shares valued at about $49.6 million.
• Despite that sale, Freeport-McMoRan still has strong institutional backing, with institutions owning about 80.77% of the stock and several large firms increasing their positions.
• The company reported a strong quarter with EPS of $0.57 and revenue of $6.23 billion, both above analyst estimates, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share.

Swedbank AB cut its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 42.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 977,337 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 730,599 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.07% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $49,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,332,957 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $6,619,611,000 after buying an additional 1,572,769 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 63,258,414 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $2,480,995,000 after buying an additional 899,699 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,477,910 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $2,450,384,000 after buying an additional 690,736 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 190.9% during 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 buying an additional 23,950,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,671,223 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $849,945,000 after buying an additional 435,963 shares in the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCX has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Thursday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $77.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $65.72.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.1%

Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $61.92 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.32. The company's 50-day moving average is $61.41 and its 200-day moving average is $56.46. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.15 and a fifty-two week high of $70.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

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

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

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

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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