Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX)

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 113,157 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 52% compared to the typical daily volume of 74,330 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FCX. StockNews.com upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $44.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Bernstein Bank raised their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Freeport-McMoRan

In other news, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 80,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.03, for a total transaction of $4,162,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,430,735.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Douglas N. Currault II sold 55,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total value of $2,859,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 164,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,529,843.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Stephen T. Higgins sold 80,000 shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.03, for a total value of $4,162,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 104,377 shares in the company, valued at $5,430,735.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 445,667 shares of company stock valued at $22,755,070. 0.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 422.2% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 658 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, American National Bank increased its stake in Freeport-McMoRan by 348.8% in the first quarter. American National Bank now owns 745 shares of the natural resource company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.77% of the company's stock.

Freeport-McMoRan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCX traded up $0.45 on Monday, reaching $52.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,209,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,193,247. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company has a market cap of $74.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.66, a PEG ratio of 8.39 and a beta of 2.02. Freeport-McMoRan has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $52.52.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The natural resource company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.05. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 6.97%. The company had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Freeport-McMoRan's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.55%.

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.