Wesleyan Assurance Society Has $11.54 Million Position in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Wesleyan Assurance Society increased its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 306.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 305,000 shares of the natural resource company's stock after buying an additional 230,000 shares during the quarter. Wesleyan Assurance Society's holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $11,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,219,298 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $4,692,191,000 after buying an additional 642,776 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,885,531 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,214,203,000 after buying an additional 5,735,171 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,579,298 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,122,922,000 after buying an additional 688,240 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,502,220 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $1,123,445,000 after buying an additional 2,191,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. 80.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Freeport-McMoRan Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock traded down $0.23 during trading on Thursday, reaching $44.61. 10,181,867 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,757,939. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.66 and a twelve month high of $52.61. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.64.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.09. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.03% and a net margin of 7.11%. The business had revenue of $7.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Freeport-McMoRan's payout ratio is 24.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FCX shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

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 stock was sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total value of $343,531.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan 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.