Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. by 19.4%, now holding 65,188 shares worth approximately $2.47 million.
• Several large investors, including Wealthspire Advisors LLC and Empower Advisory Group LLC, significantly increased their holdings in Freeport-McMoRan during the same quarter.
• Freeport-McMoRan recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.54 per share, exceeding expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) by 19.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 65,188 shares of the natural resource company's stock after selling 15,707 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s holdings in Freeport-McMoRan were worth $2,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCX. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 79.5% in the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 20,308 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $769,000 after purchasing an additional 8,992 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 158.8% in the first quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,422,643 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $53,861,000 after buying an additional 873,021 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the first quarter worth $76,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 18.3% during the first quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 69,763 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $2,641,000 after acquiring an additional 10,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz SE raised its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 22.8% in the first quarter. Allianz SE now owns 180,591 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $6,837,000 after acquiring an additional 33,589 shares during the period. 80.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on FCX shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target (up from $48.00) on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered Freeport-McMoRan from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Canada upgraded Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:FCX opened at $39.85 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $57.27 billion, a PE ratio of 30.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.78 and a 200 day moving average of $39.05. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $52.61.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm 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. The company's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

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.

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