Freeport-McMoRan Inc. $FCX Shares Purchased by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 110.3%, acquiring an additional 8,751 shares, bringing its total holdings to 16,682 shares valued at approximately $632,000.
• Freeport-McMoRan has received varied analyst ratings, with two analysts giving it a Strong Buy rating and a consensus target price of $51.00, while others have revised ratings with some being downgraded to Hold.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15, indicating a 1.5% yield and a payout ratio of 22.73%, underscoring its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 110.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,682 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 8,751 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,807 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 2,882 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 540,046 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $20,565,000 after purchasing an additional 115,552 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the fourth quarter valued at $466,000. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 13,909 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 24,055,524 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $916,037,000 after purchasing an additional 750,500 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of FCX stock traded up $1.52 on Friday, reaching $43.24. 10,819,626 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,287,120. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $52.61. The company has a market cap of $62.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.42.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The company had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. Freeport-McMoRan's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 22.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Freeport-McMoRan news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value 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. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.