Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 1,822,987 Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5%, owning approximately 125 million shares worth around $4.73 billion.
• Multiple hedge funds have significantly modified their holdings in Freeport-McMoRan, with Stratos Investment Management raising its shares by 238.5% in the first quarter.
• Freeport-McMoRan's most recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.54, exceeding expectations, while the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,042,285 shares of the natural resource company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,822,987 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 8.70% of Freeport-McMoRan worth $4,734,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 833 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. City Holding Co. bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 38.2% in the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 53.3% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FCX. Wall Street Zen raised Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price 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. UBS Group cut Freeport-McMoRan from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Friday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $343,531.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. This represents a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.22. The stock had a trading volume of 5,712,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,991,168. The company's 50-day moving average price is $42.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.09. The company has a market capitalization of $60.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.63. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $52.61. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $7.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 7.37%. Freeport-McMoRan's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 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.