Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Shares Sold by TCW Group Inc.

Key Points

• TCW Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 18.6%, selling 150,368 shares, which left them with 659,723 shares valued at approximately $24.98 million.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported earnings of $0.54 per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations by $0.09, while revenues were up by 14.5% year-over-year.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, yielding 1.34%, with a payout ratio of 22.73%.

TCW Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 18.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 659,723 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 150,368 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $24,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 9.6% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,948,185 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $73,758,000 after buying an additional 171,253 shares during the last quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 29.9% in the first quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC now owns 8,790 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 2,024 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 12.1% in the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,535 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $550,000 after buying an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 5.4% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 413,408 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $15,652,000 after buying an additional 21,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.9% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 60,613 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,295,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $343,531.68. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,333 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,286.66. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 3.4%

NYSE FCX traded up $1.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $40.46. 17,849,743 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,218,759. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $52.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $58.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.64.

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 for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.73%.

Freeport-McMoRan Company 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.