Van ECK Associates Corp Has $83.42 Million Stock Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX

Key Points

• Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.8% during Q3 to 2,126,879 shares worth about $83.42 million, representing roughly 0.15% of the company.
• Insiders sold a total of 603,140 shares valued at approximately $37.66 million in the last quarter (including EVP Douglas Currault's 75,000-share sale), leaving insiders with 0.79% ownership.
• Analysts have been raising targets and ratings on FCX, leaving a consensus of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $62.59.

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,126,879 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 16,331 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.15% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $83,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,760,188 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $5,049,975,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776,241 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 1.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 63,258,414 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,480,995,000 after purchasing an additional 899,699 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 61,787,174 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,678,474,000 after buying an additional 320,514 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.1% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 435,963 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 89.4% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 17,569,169 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $761,623,000 after buying an additional 8,292,873 shares during the last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, EVP Douglas N. Currault II sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total transaction of $4,839,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 219,181 shares in the company, valued at $14,141,558.12. This trade represents a 25.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.03, for a total transaction of $682,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 40,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,529,149.19. This trade represents a 21.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 603,140 shares of company stock valued at $37,660,139. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of NYSE FCX opened at $62.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $89.53 billion, a PE ratio of 41.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $69.75.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The natural resource company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $5.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 8.50%. Freeport-McMoRan's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Freeport-McMoRan Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 15th. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FCX shares. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Argus raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $53.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, CICC Research lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $50.40 to $64.40 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.59.

About Freeport-McMoRan

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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