Zions Bancorporation National Association UT Makes New $362,000 Investment in Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Key Points

• Zions Bancorporation National Association UT invested $362,000 in Freeport-McMoRan Inc., acquiring 9,561 shares in the first quarter.
• Institutional investors own approximately 80.77% of Freeport-McMoRan's stock, with several major firms increasing their holdings recently.
• Freeport-McMoRan reported earnings per share of $0.54 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share.

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 9,561 shares of the natural resource company's stock, valued at approximately $362,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Freeport-McMoRan by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 125,042,285 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $4,734,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822,987 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 21.9% in 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 during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 3.2% in 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 buying an additional 750,500 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 13.7% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 21,942,063 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $830,726,000 after buying an additional 2,642,810 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 16,441,112 shares of the natural resource company's stock valued at $626,078,000 after buying an additional 1,335,181 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Stifel Canada raised Freeport-McMoRan to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Insider Transactions at Freeport-McMoRan

In related news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 8,584 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $343,531.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 48,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,934,286.66. This trade represents a 15.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Stock Performance

Shares of FCX opened at $41.83 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $60.11 billion, a PE ratio of 31.69, a PEG ratio of 0.77 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 company's 50 day moving average price is $42.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.07. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.66 and a 52 week high of $52.61.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last issued 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. 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 analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.